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
6
m
Field Height
7
m
Tree Cover
85
%
Shrub Cover
70
%
Field Cover
80
%
Nonvascular Cover
5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The plot captures an unusually rich forest along this reach of the Rivanna River, where most of the slopes were cleared until fairly recently and are also underlain by rather acidic rocks. The stand documented here occupies a precipitous, rocky bluff and toe slope which escaped clearing, but were no doubt logged long ago. Although the rock appears to be an acidic schist, soils on the foot of the bluff are deep, dark, and support numerous nutrient-demanding spring geophytes such as Asarum canadense, Hydrophyllum virginianum, Erythronium americanum, Dicentra cucullaria, and Carex jamesii. The overstory is co-dominated by medium-aged Carya cordiformis, Liriodendron tulipifera, Fraxinus americana, and Tilia americana. Some Juglans nigra is present at the edge of the floodplain, and Fagus grandifolia and Celtis occidentalis are present in the canopy outside the plot. Exotics are abundant everywhere in the floodplain and are likely to be more prominent in the plot later in the growing season.
