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
10
%
Shrub Cover
10
%
Field Cover
80
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot lies in a very open woodland adjacent to a narrow Nuphar bed along the Pamunkey River. Isolated openings such as this, in which Murdannia keisak is the leading dominant and few other taxa attain high cover, support characteristically high species richness and reflect the invasion of marsh species into formerly more closed woodlands. Although there has undoubtedly been considerably mortality of and crown damage to overstory trees in recent decades as sea level has risen, this habitat has likely always been fairly open, with significantly lower canopy cover than that of tidal hardwood swamp forest, as the density of Alnus suggests (though the overall cover in the plot belies its importance here). AN abundance of coarse woody debris may provide favorable substrate for the establishment of Murdannia. Although this species does not appear to have had a deleterious effect on other species, the potential for competitive displacement is a management concern and monitoring of habitats such as this would be worthwhile. This plot was chosen to capture one of the few mature individuals of Taxodium distichum encountered along the tidal portion of the Pamunkey. It is likely that with a regularly diurnal tidal cycle without seasonal periodicity, drawdowns do not persist long enough or do not achieve sufficiently long exposure of mineral soil to allow germination of Taxodium seeds or survival of seedlings beyond the flood-susceptible stage.
0 - 10 - loose, unconsolidated organic matter
10 - 70 - mucky clay, with fine root material
70 - very wet, unconsolidated fibric peat (?); almost no clay
