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
1000
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
35
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
10
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot captures representative portion of old-growth forest south of the main entrance road to Sweet Briar College, in the Carry Sanctuary. Trees in this stand have been aged at 200+ years. Although there is no evidence of tree harvesting within at least a century, this stand has by no means escaped human influence and anthropogenic modification. East of this stand and across access road not marked on campus map there is a large understory population of Vinca, a clear sign of past settlement. Plot itself contains a seedling of Ginkgo biloba. Fragmentation of this landscape by roads and dissected topography downslope essentially precluded placement of plot in homogeneous vegetation and on single landform less proximate to road. Identification of Carya spp. proved problematic, particularly given dearth of saplings and small trees, and was based primarily on leaflet shape and number and on bark characteristics.
Plot overlaps with permanent 1.0 ha monitoring plot. Permanent stake 80E20N located in module 2.
