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
32
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
8
m
Tree Cover
75
%
Shrub Cover
70
%
Field Cover
60
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot documents an inundated swamp forest about 25-30 meters from the main channel of the Blackwater River, ca. 6.5 km upstream from its confluence with the Nottoway River at the VA/NC state line. The bottomland here is narrow and wedged between the river and a steep, bluff-like slope. It is horizontally concave and was 50% covered by standing water on the survey date, despite months of summer drought. Hydrology is difficult to assess based on a single visit, but it appears that swamps immediately bordering the lower Blackwater up to this site or a little upstream, are periodically inundated by wind tides fostered by strong winds from the southeast that push water up the Chowan drainage from Albemarle Sound; however, given the location at the far upstream limits of such tidal flooding, this cannot entirely explain the very wet hydrological regime. The forest vegetation is very dense and shrubby, with a mixed canopy of Taxodium distichum, Nyssa biflora, and Nyssa aquatica. Shrub diversity is impressive, with Toxicodendron radicans, Fraxinus caroliniana, Myrica cerifera var. cerifera, Leucothoe racemosa, Alnus serrulata, Cornus foemina, Cyrilla racemosa, and Rosa palustris all common. The herb layer is also well developed, with Saururus cernuus and Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis contributing the highest cover.
