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:
Field Height
5
m
Field Cover
75
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Low, somewhat open marsh dominated by Leersia oryzoides near the confluence of Big Creek and an unnamed channel in Cumberland / Lilly Point Marsh. Plot layout was chosen specifically to include three individuals of Aeschynomene virginica without causing excessive disturbance. This vegetation type appears not to extend far beyond the boundaries of the plot. A mosaic of vegetation patches in the vicinity includes microsites dominated by Pontederia cordata (likely with Leersia as an important constituent), Zizania aquatica (extensive in the interior of this marsh), and Zizaniopsis miliacea (which locally along Big Creek is limited chiefly to the fringe along the main channel, but which is much more extensive upstream). The plot inevitably captures a muskrat den and burrow system. The extent to which muskrat activity has altered local hydrology or species composition is unclear.
