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
37
m
Shrub Height
4
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
100
%
Shrub Cover
20
%
Field Cover
35
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot is located on the opposite slope of a ravine from plot SCRU001 but has a much different character. This site is steep and west-facing, and the forest vegetation is strikingly mature. There are three truly impressive overstory trees in the plot - a 107 cm dbh Liriodendron tulipifera, an 89 cm dbh Carya glabra, and an 88 cm dbh Quercus rubra, all 36-37 meters tall. The slope formerly had a numer of young Tsuga canadensis in the understory, but most of these are now dead from adelgid infestion. The herb layer quite patchy (ca. 35% total cover) and greatly dominated by Polystichum acrostichoides. Most of the spring ephemerals that carpet SCRU001 are absent here.