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
5
%
Shrub Cover
30
%
Field Cover
5
%
Nonvascular Cover
70
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Example of an evidently somewhat minerotrophic, xeric, sloping quartzose sandstone pavement scrub community, with stunted Pinus rigida dominant in the highest strata, heaths not abundant, herbaceous and bryophyte cover and diversity higher than the poorest pavement communities, cf.. Plot JCNF018, done nearby in a more exposed, somewhat steeper area. Corydalis sempervirens and Asplenium platyneuron are among the herbs absent from the more severe pavement communities. The bryophyte/lichen component is also more diverse, with mosses (Hedwigia, Grimmia) more abundant than lichens. The presumed higher nutrient regime here may be a function of a different bedrock chemistry and/or a function of there being forest uphill from the community from which nutrients can leach.
Plot located 0.9 km ENE of Bryant Gap, near cliff brow to west.
Note [GPF]: slope shape estimated from topo map.
3 - 0 - oak leaf litter
0 - 9 - Oa: black with white sand grains mixed in
9 - bedrock
NOTE: This description is representative of one of the scattered pockets of soil, not the entire plot, most of which is without soil.