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
200
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
--no data--
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot location: slope bordering Grove Creek ca. 0.5 miles NW of Sewage Treatment Plant, NE of Carter's Grove Plantation.
Field estimate from topo: (UTME): 354730 (UTMN): 4120858.
Rock Types Present: (abundant shell fragments present in mineral soil).
The habitat is a very steep, strongly convex, dry-mesic lower slope bordering upper tidal swamps along Grove Creek. Stream dissection here has exposed the abundant lower Pliocene shell beds of the Yorktown Formation and produced extraordinary calcareous soils (pH = 7.6, Ca = 7383 ppm). The overall vegetation is no less unusual, with many prominent calciphiles prevalent, e.g., Quercus muhlenbergii, Dirca palustris, Tilia americana, Aquilegia canadensis, Desmodium glutinosum, and Erigeron pulchellus. In order to capture homogenous vegetation on this short, undulating slope, plot size had to be limited to 200 sq. m. Vegetation grades quickly to acidic forest upslope.