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:
Shrub Height
4
m
Field Height
1
m
Shrub Cover
10
%
Field Cover
25
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The habitat is a high, mostly open dune in the middle of the False Cape peninsula, about 600 meters from both the ocean and the Back Bay marshes. Large patches of bare sand with rather sparse dune grasses are interspersed with small patches of wind-stunted live oaks and loblolly pines. The plot was layer out to include a portion of a live oak thicket in order to capture a representative sample, but this may prove problematic as the sample can probably be assignable to either a dune shrubland or dune grassland community type. The herbaceous part of the flora is dominated by frequently sprawling Triplasis purpurea, with taller Panicum amarum ssp. amarulum only slightly less abundant.
