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
7
m
Tree Cover
95
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
95
%
Nonvascular Cover
0
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This medium-sized floodplain along Cedar Run has fertile soils washed from calcareous Triassic siltstone and diabase in the Culpeper Basin area upstream. While most of the floodplain was cleared and now supports young, even-aged forests, the plot was placed in an older stand of trees on the levee bordering the stream. Here, under a quite mixed overstory of Platanus occidentalis, Quercus shumardii, Celtis occidentalis, Ulmus americana, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, and Juglans nigra, the herbaceous growth is lush with nutrient-demanding spring geophytes, especially Mertensia virginica. While Mertensia and Floerkea proserpinacoides were beginning to evanesce on the sampling date, Laportea canadensis and Impatiens pallida will likely have much greater cover as the growing season progresses. Exotics such as Alliaria petiolata and Glechoma hederacea are present in moderate numbers but pose a significant long-term threat to the compositional integrity of the forest.
