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
8
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
10
%
Shrub Cover
35
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
55
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The vegetation in and around this plot is a variably open woodland dominated by Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana, beneath which is a diverse and locally dense herbaceous layer. The site is steep and ledgey, with small cliffs and abundant loose stones. The dominant junipers are old and gnarled. Selective increment coring and aging of original branches revealed that even small trees < 10 cm DBH may be over 100 years old, and that the largest trees (> 30 cm DBH) are more than 250 years old. The old junipers appear to have been protected from widespread fires on this slope by their occurrence at the foot of cliffs with little fuel to carry a fire.