Large tract of forest land managed by the George Washington N.F. The WV/Va state line is located ca. 500m East of the plot. Before that is the Bother Knob access road. Above this cove community to the E is a dying Tsuga canadensis - Betula alleghaniensis - Quercus rubra forest. Downslope 30 m is the cove bottom. The yellow birch - basswood runs up and down the cove roughly 200 m in each direction.;Cool, shady N facing slope above a NW facing cove. The forest is dominated by well spaced Tilia americana - Betula alleghaniensis - Acer saccharum in the overstory. The forest floor is covered by heavily browsed Laportea canadensis. There is large cover by moss and litter covered rocks, roughly the size of basketballs. There are a couple of old barkless sawn stumps just outside the plot. There are a couple of old barkless sawn stumps just outside the plot. Many of the large trees have triangle shaped scars on their uphill bases. Perhaps from colluvium?
Representativeness
Large patch mesic forest community in a NW draining cove on West flank of Shenandoah Mountain. Plot was placed to sample yellow birch - basswood cove forest. This is a type identified in WV but has few plots documenting it.
