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
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
75
%
Field Cover
40
%
Nonvascular Cover
0
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot documents a levee forest adjacent to the main channel of the Mattaponi River. Plot is adjacent to the Zoar State Forest Nature Trail, just west of marker #7. Ridge and swale microtopography is present within the plot, with fine sandy alluvial soils throughout. The forest is fairly representative of forests occurring on high, sandy levees along both the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers in the central Virginia Coastal Plain. These typically have overstory co-dominance by Fagus grandifolia and several oaks (especially Quercus michauxii and Q. shumardii), and large Ilex opaca var. opaca in the understory. Lonicera japonica is the only exotic plant in the sampled stand.