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
25
m
Shrub Height
4
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
60
%
Shrub Cover
5
%
Field Cover
3
%
Nonvascular Cover
4
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The habitat is a discrete natural pond that is seasonally flooded to a depth of approximately 25-30 cm in the center. In 2011, after a wet July, the pond was flooded for the duration of the summer; in 2012, it was drawn down, but still wet, on the July 17 sampling date. The habitat grades into a younger, disturbed, saturated forest to the south and east, and is bordered by a dry oak/heath flatwoods on the west and north.. Vegetation in the seasonally flooded depression is a woodland of Quercus lyrata, Nyssa biflora, and Liquidambar styraciflua. Some of the oaks are quite large. A few patches of Leucothoe racemosa and Vaccinium fuscatum are present on tree-base hummocks and around the edge of the depression; an extensive rim is saturated or very shallowly and briefly flooded, supporting Quercus phellos, Q. nigra, Acer rubrum, and Pinus taeda. Altogether, basin and rim cover about 1.4 acres. Patches of sphagnum and Carex joorii occur in a few spots, but otherwise the ground is dominated by leaf litter and dead branches. Moss grows extensively on the bases of the tree trunks, and some herbs grow on moss-covered fallen logs.
