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
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
30
%
Field Cover
90
%
Nonvascular Cover
0
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This isolated mountain pond is situated in a deep, slope-bench depression on the side of the otherwise steep, southeast flank of Walker Mountain above Clayton Mill Creek. The pond is filled with soft, deep, organic-rich silt and was still very wet with areas of standing water on the survey date. The pond is somewhat elongate, with a thick shrubby rim of Cephalanthus occidentalis and Ilex verticillata. The center is open and herbaceous, with Dulichium arundinaceum, Leersia virginica, Nuphar advena, and Gratiola neglecta forming large dominance patches. Overall, this is a pristine mountain wetland worthy of both further vegetation and geomorphological study.