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
19
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
25
%
Field Cover
40
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot captures vegetation along a wet slough / old oxbow channel in the Meherrin River floodplain. The slough is located about 850 meters from the main river channel, and was a more open beaver wetland some 50-60 years ago, according to Drew Duncan (who grew up in the area). Since being abandoned, this wetland has grown up in a young stand of Nyssa aquatica with Fraxinus caroliniana understory; a number of older Nyssa individuals are also present. Remnants of a successional Cephalanthus occidentalis phase have persisted in the understory of the stand. This site is more deeply flooded for longer periods than the site sampled in plot SOUT011. Despite the droughty summer, the habitats was only recently drawn down on the survey date and the ground was carpeted with young seedlings of Gratiola neglecta, one of several "draw-down" species that dominate the herb layer.
0-20 cm: brown silt with orange mottles
20+ cm: gray silty clay with orange mottles
Swamp drawn down, but soil moist, at time of survey. Surface of soil extensively cracked.
