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
50
%
Shrub Cover
15
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
25
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This large (ca. one acre) bedrock exposure is situated on a concave slope at the head of a drainageway and is particularly covered with bouldery colluvium. The vegetation here is very unusual, open Fraxinus americana dominated woodland with an herbaceous layer characterized by dense colonies of Chasmanthium latifolium, which occurs here in a very atypical habitat and topographic setting. Despite the strong dominance of this grass, herbaceous diversity is rather high, possibly due to periodic groundwater seepage and/or subsurficial drainage.
Plot location: On slope of Sawlog Ridge above the South Fork Moormans River, ca. 0.4 mi. west of the upper end of the Charlottesville reservoir.