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:
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
5
%
Field Cover
5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This rather rich, ENE facing slope was once occupied by a mixed stand of dominant American chestnut (Castanea dentata), with associated sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and red oak (Quercus rubra). Currently the area in and around the plot is littered with fallen boles of blight killed chestnut; other trees were evidently cut during logging operations in the early 1920s. Canopy gaps created by the loss of chestnut and logging have been occupied by young sugar maple, and to a somewhat lesser extent, by red oak. Although many nutrient demanding herbs are present on the forest floor, heavy deer browse has reduced the herbaceous layer to an exceedingly sparse cover.