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
70
%
Shrub Cover
30
%
Field Cover
30
%
Nonvascular Cover
15
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
In this plot, chestnut oak (Quercus montana), scarlet (Q. coccinea), and black oak (Q. velutina) form a mixed stand on a dry, south facing slope over acidic shales at the east foot of Middle Mountain. Heath shrubs dominate the herb layer and small red maple (Acer rubrum) has occupied some of the canopy gaps created by blight killed American chestnut (Castanea dentata), formally an important canopy associate of the oaks. The plot is representative of oak-ericad stands in which scarlet oak is important. These communities are quite localized in the Laurel Fork/Middle Mountain area, where scarlet oak apparently is confined to low elevations (mostly below 3200) and Brallier-Millboro substrates. This forest was logged in the 1920s and subsequently burned. Future disturbance of this stand by gypsy moth can be expected.
Trees measured in plot (dbh in cm): Quercus montana (33), Q. coccinea (32), Q. velutina (33).