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
1000
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
22
m
Shrub Height
3
m
Field Height
4
m
Tree Cover
70
%
Shrub Cover
15
%
Field Cover
60
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The crest of Back Creek Mountain supports an interesting stand of large, broad-crowned Quercus alba and a ground layer of mixed low ericads and abundant Calamagrostis porteri. Canopy cover is unusually low due to late leaf-out and early-season herbivory by native phytophagous insects; cover estimated on basis of crown width. Irregular crowns of overstory oaks suggest a period of relatively open growing conditions followed by repeated disturbances, probably wind and ice storms primarily. A few stumps are scattered in stand, but virtually all canopy individuals are single-stemmed. Ericaceous richness is notably high, including more northerly species Vaccinium angustifolium and Pyrola rotundifolia. Two large Quercus alba (66 and 67 cm dbh) excluded from plot to avoid upwardly biasing estimate of basal area; excluding one and not the other would have required extreme precision in plot layout.
0 - 2 - litter and duff
2 - 3 - O horizon (litter, duff, and O horizon occasionally 10+ cm deep)
3 - medium to dark brown clay loam, abounding in channery; parent material weathers to thin (2-7 mm) flat plates
