releve Virginia Division of Natural Heritage, see http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/nh_plotform_instructions.pdf
Overall Taxon Cover Values are Automatically Calculated?
no
Stem Observation Area
400
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
33
m
Shrub Height
5
m
Field Height
0
m
Tree Cover
75
%
Shrub Cover
65
%
Field Cover
75
%
Nonvascular Cover
10
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot was located in a small stream headwaters swamp with braided drainage. Most similar vegetation in the area has been destroyed by beaver flooding and this is a small, less disturbed remnant. The vegetation is very dense and shrubby, with a somewhat open canopy of Nyssa biflora, Liquidambar styraciflua, and Acer rubrum. There is good Nyssa biflora recruitment in the sub-canopy layers. Beneath the trees, thick shrub patches (particuarly of Viburnum nudum) are interspersed with dense herbaceous patches dominated by Saururus cernuus but containing a good diversity of hydrophytic forbs and graminoids.