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
1
m
Tree Cover
30
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
15
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot located on ridge crest NNW of Big Falls. This narrow ridge crest of Copper Ridge dolomite supports dry woodland vegetation. Vascular plant species richness is extremely high and is one of the most diverse plots of vegetation sampled in Virginia, with about 80 species in a 400 sq. m plot. Mesotrophic conditions are indicated by Tilia americana, Elymus hystrix, and Hepatica acutiloba. Many submesotrophic indicators are also present.
Other species on this ridge crest 100 m to the south include Zanthoxylum americanum, Paxistima canbyi, Campanula rotundifolia and Galium boreale. Trees measured in plot (dbh in cm): Quercus muhlenbergii (22), Juniperus virginiana (31), Quercus rubra (29), Acer saccharum (33).
2013-03-27 - plot location was mapped on a lower slope near the river. Plot location moved to ridge crest and given a low estimated accuracy. Database map coordinates were updated manually.