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
37
m
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Rock type present: minor metabasalt debris.
This plot documents a post-logging (>60 years ago) mesophytic forest dominated by tall, straight Liriodendron tulipifera. I have visited this site periodically for more than 20 years. In that time, increasingly heavy and persistent deer grazing has reduced the stature and diversity of a formerly lush herb layer and allowed Amphicarpaea bracteata and Phegopteris hexagonoptera to increase greatly in abundance. The successional trajectory of this stand appears to be toward mixed dominance by Quercus spp., Carya spp., and Liriodendron. Cornus florida, formerly a dominant shrub, has been nearly eliminated by dogwood anthracnose.