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
1
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
70
%
Field Cover
75
%
Nonvascular Cover
0
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This sample capture a linear patch of well-drained floodplain forest on an elevated sandy levee and bank adjacent to the Dan River. A narrow configuration (10 x 40 m) was used to keep the plot in homogeneous vegetation and avoid a cleared area just to the north. Soil at this site is deep, well-drained sandy alluvium, and the forest has a tall canopy dominated by large Carya cordiformis, with some Celtis occidentalis, Juglans nigra, and Ulmus americana. Quercus pagoda and Liriodendron tulipifera occur as canopy trees just outside the plot. Acer negundo dominates the sub-canopy and, except for a couple of small grassy openings with Chasmanthium latifolium, much of the understory is a dense tangle of shrubs (particularly Lindera benzoin and Asimina triloba) and tree saplings (particularly Acer barbatum). This is the most mature forest stands seen along the Dan River in this area.
