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
35
m
Shrub Height
4
m
Tree Cover
70
%
Shrub Cover
60
%
Field Cover
5
%
Nonvascular Cover
5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot was intended to capture streamhead pocosin community, but it is not known how well this sample represents vegetation of narrow, poorly drained tributary fingers which permeate the landscape of South Quay and flow toward the Blackwater River or the Union Camp Holding Pond. Density of vegetation restricted plot location to the vicinity of road and practically limited size to 400 sq. m. This stand does contain several species characteristic of oligotrophic streamhead pocosins described from North Carolina (Lyonia lucida, Persea palustris, Clethra alnifolia, Magnolia virginiana, Smilax laurifolia), but Pinus taeda (abundant in adjacent uplands) and Chamaecyparis thyoides (one small tree next to road) are conspicuously absent. Visual differentiation of clonal shrub species and estimation of cover proved exceedingly difficult. Hydrologic regime (prevailing depth of water table, frequency of flooding, and hydroperiod) and the degree to which hydrology has been modified by holding pond are uncertain.
0 - 6 - litter
6 - 28 - duff, consisting of shredded leaf litter and partially decomposed Sphagnum in process of becoming peat and abounding in fine and coarser roots
28 - dark, grayish-brown, moist sand with abundant organic matter, which evidently behaves like clay particles and gives soil a loamy texture
