This is an isolated area managed by the National Park System that is very difficult to access. The only park trail is across the river on a toeslope. Downstream ,on the island to the east, the overstory is taller and more dense with similar species but equal amounts of big bluestem and pale-leaved sunflowers. To the south there is a year round flowing back channel which is similar. On this side of the back channel, on the steep side slope, there appears to be a mixed mesophytic community. Upstream to the west, across the river, is another island that could be accessed from the Bluestone Turnpike Trail, which is probably a Platanus occidentalis - Fraxinus pensylvanica floodplain forest.;Exposed upstream end of a flood battered island. The community is a cobble bar woodland/shrubland dominated by sycamore - river birch / big bluestem. The area if obviously frequently flooded. The trees on the very end of the island have coppice roots and are therefore gnarled and stunted. The further away you get from the upstream edge the trees become larger. The community is surrounded on 3 sides by the Bluestone River. The community has several linear low lying rock levees. Large clam shells 15cm across were found intermixed with the cobble.
Representativeness
This is a small patch of flood battered Platanus occidentalis - Betula nigra / Andropogon gerardii. This area is very similar to plots surveyed at New River. This plot is also similar to the plot sampled with Sue Gawler north of Pilot ridge. That plot was
