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
30
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
65
%
Field Cover
30
%
Nonvascular Cover
4
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot location: slope along head of Catletts Branch, 0.77 km south of Hopewell Gap and 0.79 km ENE of High Point Mtn. Summit. Marked with a metal tree tag. See form/report for sketch. Rock types present: flaggy quartzite/ muscovite schist boulders and fragments.
The forest overstory on this lower slope is dominated by Quercus montana (stems up to 57 cm DBH), but Castanea dentata was an important associate prior to the arrival of chestnut blight around 1915. Abundant recruitment of chestnut oak is present in the shrub and herb layers, but Acer rubrum and Carya glabra have the highest density of stems more than or equal to 25cm DBH. On the date of sampling, hundreds of dead gypsy moth caterpillars were still clinging to the bark of chestnut oaks, all apparently killed by the naturalized fungal pathogen Entomophaga maimaiga. This sudden mortality averted what might have been a serious defoliation event on this part of the mountain.
1 huge chestnut bole and 2 blow-downs in plot. Several sprout-origin oaks, indicating logging long ago. Old quarry upslope. Very minor gypsy moth defoliation; caterpillars all dead.