Downslope grades to deciduous forest with some chinquapin oak. Much of the limestone exposure on more gentle topography is in cow pasture. Highway can be heard and seen from plot. Top of knob with apparently acidic caprock supports a forest of white pine and chestnut oak.;Limestone ledges on south aspect near top of a middle elevation foreknob east of North Fork Mountain. Site supports an ancient dwarfed forest of eastern red cedar mixed with hop hornbeam and red oak over a sparse herb layer dominated by ebony sedge. Some dead trees in stand have been dated near 1000 years old, live trees dated around 500 years, entire ring chronology is 1500 years, the 2nd oldest known in the eastern USA. There are scattered pieces and stacks of tagged wood samples left by dendrochronology study.
Representativeness
Typical of this small patch which appears to have fairly even composition throughout, except that Thuja occidentalis was found outside plot nearby in similar habitat.
Some wood has fire scars but fire was not thought to have been a major factor in the stands pre-settlement disturbance history. Reportedly, a fire was set by humans and then extinguished on the site 70-80 years ago.
