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
32
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
95
%
Field Cover
4
%
Nonvascular Cover
2
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot location: bottom of NE-facing ravine 1.72 km SSE of Hopewell Gap. Marked with a metal tree tag. See form/report for sketch.
No surface rocks present.
The vegetation in this narrow, sheltered ravine bottom is unique in the Bull Run Mountains and was sampled using an elongate (10 X 40 m) plot configuration. The mixed tree layers contain the regionally uncommon species Pinus strobus and Tsuga canadensis, along with Quercus montana, Liriodendron tulipifera, Acer rubrum, Quercus rubra, and Nyssa sylvatica. Rhododendron maximum, which is very rare everywhere in northern Virginia, dominates the shrub layer in dense thickets. Although this shrub has spread from plantings in another location ca. 11.5 km to the north, there is no evidence that it was introduced in this ravine. The few Tsuga canadensis at this site are all infested with the wooly adelgid pathogen and will probably soon be extirpated. The following plants from this site were noticeably damaged by herbivory: Hamamelis virginiana, Rhododendron periclymenoides, Eurybia divaricata, and Carex sp.
