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
13
m
Tree Cover
70
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
2
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
A narrow, moderately high-elevation ridge crest supporting an open oak forest of stunted, somewhat gnarled trees. The vegetation is similar to other high-elevation oak forests in the Park, except that Quercus velutina, rather than Q. rubra, is the overstory dominant. The presence of scattered Pinus rigida suggests that the site has a history of fire, but no charcoal was found in duff or soil. On the date of sampling, numerous dead gypsy moth caterpillars were observed on the trunks of oaks, all apparently killed by the naturalized fungal pathogen Entomophaga maimaiga.
Plot location: in saddle between Hawksbill and Nakedtop, 0.2 mi. NNE of Rock Spring.