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
7
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
80
%
Field Cover
25
%
Nonvascular Cover
3
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Site is located on a gentle, rocky ridge just north of Elklick Run and east of Pleasant Valley Road in the northern Piedmont Culpeper (Triassic) Basin. Soils in this area have a distinct fragipan of montmorillonite clay and alternate between being rock-hard during dry periods and waterlogged during wet periods. The vegetation at this site is a remnant stand of medium-age oak-hickory forest that is surrounded by cut-over forest and young successional stands that have grown up on former fields. Composition is a variable mixture of several oaks and hickories, with Cercis canadensis, Cornus florida, and sapling Fraxinus americana abundant in the understory. Herbaceous and overall species richness is extraordinary (100 taxa / 400 sq. m.).