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
45
%
Field Cover
35
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Winterberry Pond is a classic mountain "sag pond," a natural depression on a slope bench caused by sagging of underlying unconsolidated landslide masses. The juxtaposition here of a half-acre pond full of obligate wetland species on a middle-elevation mountain slope covered by oak/heath forest is striking. The pond was almost completely drawn down on the sampling date, but a small pool and wet muck remained in the center. The pond vegetation is zoned, with Nuphar advena dominating the deepest central portion, and Cephalanthus occidentalis occupying a slightly higher zone over most of the pond. There is a large thicket of Ilex verticillata, for which the pond is named, in the east-central section. The east end of the pond has much thinner shrub coverage and higher herb cover. Soils are shallow to rock at the pond rim. To maximize the floristic diversity captured, the plot was positioned partly in the Cephalanthus zone and partly in the more herb-dominated eastern end. The cover of overhaning upland trees was not included in the compositional data.
