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
18
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
80
%
Field Cover
12
%
Nonvascular Cover
2
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot location: upper slope at south end of ridge ("Shueter's Hill"), 0.11 km E of Rt. 629 and 1.12 km NE of High Acre Ridge summit. Marked with a metal tree tag. See form/report for sketch. Rock types present: sparse quartzite fragments.
The original forest on this slope was dominated by Castanea dentata which apparently escaped cutting, or at least had attained large diameters, before succumbing to chestnut blight. Huge, slowly rotting chestnut boles now cover the ground beneath a secondary mixed oak forest and a very dense shrub tangle of Kalmia latifolia. This chestnut "graveyard" is unusual in the Bull Run Mountains, where most forests were cut prior to the arrival of the blight; and it is valuable for reconstructing successional changes which have occurred in the post-chestnut forests of the area. In this stand, overstory successors include Quercus montana, Quercus coccinea, and Quercus velutina. No fire scars or charcoal were found at this site and many mountain-laurel stems were large (up to 10cm DBH), suggesting a long absence of fire.
