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
10
m
Shrub Height
4
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
40
%
Shrub Cover
25
%
Field Cover
60
%
Nonvascular Cover
40
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The plot was positioned on a steep, sparsely wooded slope above Overall Run. A small cliff starts in the plot and runs for some distance to the west. Elsewhere, soils are shallow and rocky, supporting an open woodland now dominated by Quercus prinus and Fraxinus americana, with scattered Pinus virginiana and Quercus rubra. Although pine cover is rather low, there are many standing and fallen pine snags in and near the plot, perhaps the results of a southern pine beetle infestation. Young regeneration of both Pinus virginiana and P. pungens is frequent. The lowest vegetation layer consists partly of a dense, graminoid herbaceous cover and partly of a thick patch of Vaccinium pallidum. Conspicuous lichens on exposed rock surfaces include Lasallia papulosa, L. pensylvanica, Flavoparmelia baltimorensis, Dimelaena oreina, Usnea sp., Xanthoparmelia conspersa, Cladonia cf. chlorophaea, Rhizoplaca subdiscrepens and several unidentified gray and pink crusts. The bryophyte Grimmia laevigata is locally common in depressions where moisture accumulates.