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
25
m
Shrub Height
5
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
85
%
Shrub Cover
60
%
Field Cover
40
%
Nonvascular Cover
6
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot is part of the same stand captured by plot TURK026, located ca. 70 m to the south. The site is a steep, NW-facing slope supporting a largely sprout-origin forest of Quercus montana. Several trees of Pinus pungens, a montane species that is rare in the Potomac Gorge, are overstory associates. The subcanopy layers are dominated by Acer rubrum and Nyssa sylvatica, while the herb layer is dominated by colonies of Gaylussacia baccata and Vaccinium pallidum. Leucobryum cf. albidum is the dominant bryophyte on the sheet-eroded soils. Several old wounds at the base of the larger oaks were interpreted to be fire scars; the presence of Pinus pungens, a pyrogenic species, also suggests past influences by fire.
