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
5
m
Field Height
8
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
30
%
Field Cover
35
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot placed on dryish, moderately steep, SSE-facing slope above Difficult Run. The vegetation is a relatively mature, open, oak-hickory forest with abundant graminoids in the herb layer. Species richness (exceeding 100 vascular taxa over the 400 sq. m.. plot) is impressively high and the stand is not heavily impacted by either deer grazing or exotics. The plot is located in an area where acidic metasedimentary rocks of the Mather Gorge Formation are intruded by dikes of amphibolite and granite. Although chemistry data from soil samples indicate relatively low base status, both the high species richness and the presence of species such as Erigeron pulchellus var. pulchellus, Tradescantia virginiana, Solidago ulmifolia var. ulmifolia, and Vernonia glauca suggest some affinities to vegetation occurring on more basic upland soils.