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
60
%
Shrub Cover
20
%
Field Cover
10
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The vegetation of this plot is typical of the tidal hardwood swamp forest dominated by Nyssa biflora and Fraxinus profunda on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation. As Rick Rheinhardt noted in his dissertation, these communities are noteworthy for the richness of shrub species. Plot location was guided by attempts to minimize heterogeneity and to capture as intact a canopy as possible, but fine-scale compositional patchiness and contemporary crown damage and tree mortality (supposedly the result of recent sea-level rise) appear to be salient features of these forests. The presence of many species not associated with emergent tidal wetlands (e.g., Packera aurea, Geum canadense, and Dichanthelium clandestinum) suggests that this stand may not experience regular, tidal inundation.
Smilax rotundifolia, as reported, may include S. walteri.
