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
35
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
9
m
Tree Cover
95
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
85
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot captures a small patch of rich hardwood forest located at the base of a north-facing slope along the Smith River. It is probably best classified as a Basic Mesic Forest, rather than a Rich Cove Forest, given its physiographic location in the Piedmont and the fact that its floristics are not very "montane." Located on a toe slope, the stand grades fairly quickly to an alluvial forest on the river floodplain and to a drier oak-hickory forest on the slope above. To the west, the slope steepens into a Rhododendron-covered bluff that extends for some distance. Overall, this is a distinctive forest embedded in a generally acidic landscape where rich soil has accumulated in ravines and on lower slopes next to the river. Liriodendron tulipifera dominates the canopy in an even-aged stand indicative of cutting decades ago. Carpinus is the leading understory dominant. The herb layer is lush and species-rich, with Adiantum pedatum, Podophyllum peltatum, Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis, Amphicarpaea bracteata, and Phegopteris hexagonoptera particularly abundant.