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
28
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
35
%
Field Cover
35
%
Nonvascular Cover
5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot location: ca. 30m south of the "Bull Run Ridge Trail" on east slope of High Point Mtn., 0.93 km N of Beverly Mill. Marked with a metal tree tag. See form/report for sketch. Rock types present: flaggy quartzite boulders and fragments.
This plot represents a variant of the area's Quercus montana/ heath forest in which Quercus coccinea is more or less co-dominant with Quercus montana, and Gaylussacia baccata, rather than Kalmia latifolia, is the dominant ericaceous shrub. This compositional variation may be related to environmental factors, to past land-use history (e.g., cutting, fires), or a combination of the two. Multiple, recent disturbances were noted in the vicinity of this plot, including dogwood anthracnose (all shrub-sized dogwoods were deceased); significant herbivory of Cary glabra, Rhododendron periclymenoides, Hypoxis hirsuta, and Hieracium venosum by white-tailed deer; and some gypsy moth defoliation.
