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
5
m
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
20
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Except for a couple of small red maple and persimmon trees, this small mountain pond is dominated by graminoid herbaceous vegetation and local thickets of Smilax rotundifolia. Some patches of sphagnum and bare mineral soil trampled by deer also occur. The site is located on a low ridge at the east (Piedmont-side) foot of the Blue Ridge, just west of the James River. Although very low in species-richness, the vegetation, dominated by Panicum rigidulum var. rigidulum, resembles that of the drier Shenandoah Valley sinkhole ponds on the other side of the Blue Ridge.
0-7 cm: dark gray clay loam
7-30 cm: light gray clay with sparse orange mottles
Disturbance Data:
Disturbance Type
Disturbance Intensity
Disturbance Comment
unknown
The south end of the pond was slightly deepened, and a shallow ditch dug from the other end to funnel water into the dug-out area. Presumably this was done to create a wildlife watering hole of longer duration than the pond itself. These actions appear to have had little impact on the overall hydrology and vegetation.
