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
31
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
2
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
12
%
Field Cover
75
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Most of the bottomland on the north side of Three Creek at the Southampton Correctional Institute was clear-cut several decades ago, and now supports an even aged stand of largely coppice-sprouted hardwoods. However, a narrow strip of forest immediately bordering the creek was spared. This plot was placed within this strip in order to sample a more medium-aged stand with greater herb diversity. The forest is fairly typical of the winter-flooded terraces along southeastern Virginia's large creeks and rivers, with mixtures of hydrophytic oaks, Carya aquatica, Liquidambar styraciflua, Ulmus americana, Acer rubrum, and Fraxinus pensylvanica forming a variable stand. The herb layer in and around this sample is strongly dominated by Commelina virginica, but several sedges and grasses together exceed the cover of this forb.