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 Height
36
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
8
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
55
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
2
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
A steep, bouldery, forested slope above the Potomac River floodplain, in a cove at the mouth of a steep ravine. Soils here have moderately high concentrations of calcium, which is inconsistent with the mapped acidic bedrock. The forest is dominated by emergent Liriodendron tulipifera and Tilia americana (outside the plot), with Acer saccharum abundant in a shorter stratum. Ulmus rubra, Ostrya virginiana, and Asimina triloba co-dominate the understory. The herb layer is characterized by patch-dominant clones of Caulophyllum thalictroides and Jeffersonia diphylla.