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
400
m²
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
50
%
Field Cover
30
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Slope between FR 201 and Pearis Thompson Branch, just above its confluence with Dismal Creek. The vegetation in this plot is a somewhat enigmatic, mesic slope forest characterized by Thuja occidentalis in mixture with Pinus strobus, Tsuga canadensis and various hardwoods. Bedrock here is interbedded sandstone and limestone and the plot contains species characteristic of both acidic (e.g. Rhododendron maximum, Quercus coccinea, Polygala paucifolia) and calcareous (e.g. Thuja occidentalis, Polygala senega, Melanthium latifolium) soils. Thuja slope forests are very rare and localized in Virginia; this one is not much larger than the plot, but several other similar patched occur in the Dismal Creek Valley.