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
19
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
65
%
Shrub Cover
55
%
Field Cover
4
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This site is a fairly large cobble bar accreting in a small oxbow on the shore of the Potomac River. Vegetation is an open woodland of stunted, flood- trained trees, primarily Platanus occidentalis and Betula nigra. Most are heavily leaning and with numerous upright water sprouts. Although this habitat is frequently flooded and inundated for extended periods when river levels are high, its soils are very stony, hard-packed, and droughty during long periods of exposure during the summer. These stresses are clearly reflected in the rather sparse cover and low vigor of herbaceous plants.