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
15
m
Tree Cover
70
%
Shrub Cover
70
%
Field Cover
50
%
Nonvascular Cover
10
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This narrow ridge crest supports a typical high-elevation oak (Quercus rubra and Q. alba) forest with gnarled and stunted trees and a dense understory consisting largely of Hamamelis virginiana and Acer pensylvanicum. The base status of soils weathered from the granitic substrate is low, but does not differ much from some soils of similar sites over metabasalt (greenstone). The species richness of this plot, however, is considerably lower than oak forest plots sampled on high-elevation sites underlain by metabasalt.
Plot location: ridge crest 0.1 mi. S of the summit of Pollock Knob.