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
32
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
8
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
15
%
Field Cover
65
%
Nonvascular Cover
40
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Resample of 13-year old permanent plot. Corners are now monumented with rebar stakes painted light blue.
Discrepancies in the woody vegetation between the 2001 and 2014 samples suggests that the boundaries reconstructed in 2014 do not exactly match those of the original plot. The resample appears to have captured a hummock area on the north edge of the plot containing a number of saplings of upland trees, especially Carya cordiformis and Fagus grandifolia. Nevertheless, the large trees recorded in 2001 are all still present, and overall floristic composition and relative species abundances are similar in both samples. The overall data suggest that this habitat and swamp vegetation have not changed appreciably over the last thirteen years. The invasive grass Microstegium vimineum is, however, likely more numerous on the better drained hummocks. Although its estimated cover (1-2%) was the same in both samples, the the 2014 sampling was conducted in May, when this annual was just sprouted and very small, while the 2001 sampling was conducted in August, when the species reaches its maximal size.
