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
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Shrub Height
1
m
Field Height
1
m
Shrub Cover
5
%
Field Cover
90
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This fen at Grayson Glades NAP has been heavily disturbed by past land use but maintains populations of several state-rare plant species and extraordinary fine-scale species richness. Nested subquadrats were not established because of very tight species packing, and some species may have been overlooked. Diversity of this plot is higher than that observed at Big Spring Bog NAP, when woody species in the latter are controlled for. Although vegetative cover is high and dense, and trampling compacts the soil down to the water table, surficial cover of water may have been underestimated.
Solidago uliginosa occurs just outside the plot.
0 - 20 - loosely consolidated mucky peat
20 - soil texture, color, and organic matter content vary from clay to clay loam, fine-textured to gravelly, medium brown to very dark brown with high organic matter; mafic parent material appears throughout profile, as mica flakes or pebbles of what appears to be olivine