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
50
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
15
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot is located on a north facing toe slope above the confluence of Slabcamp Run and Laurel Fork. Its vegetation is a more or less even age stand of northern hardwoods which followed clearcutting in the 1920s. Black birch (Betula lenta) is the dominant canopy tree , with yellow birch (Betula allegheniensis), red maple (Acer rubrum), black cherry (Prunus serotina) and red oak (Quercus rubra) also present. Mountain holly (Ilex montana) and great laurel (Rhododendron maximum) dominate the shrub layer. The herbaceous layer is dominated by expansive colonies of the northern clubmoss Lycopodium annotinum, indicative of nutrient poor soils and probably the past influence of logging related fires. Although young hemlock present under black birch upslope, it is absent on this part of the slope and successional trends in this stand are unclear. Some die back mortality of birch was evident in and around the plot.
Trees measured in plot (dbh in cm.) Betula lenta (36), Prunus serotina (36), Betula allegheniensis (25).