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
32
m
Shrub Height
5
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
45
%
Field Cover
15
%
Nonvascular Cover
4
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The valley of Laurel Prong above Camp Hoover once supported a mixed, mesophytic forest in which Tsuga canadensis was an abundant component with various hardwoods. Presently, the area has suffered nearly 100% mortality of Tsuga from outbreaks of hemlock woolly adelgid over the past 15 years, and is choked with downed wood and dense regeneration of maples, birches, and other hardwoods. This plot is located on the south flank of the hollow, in an area where hemlock was only a minor, mostly understory tree. As a result, the stand is still largely intact except for a few small understory Tsuga. It was placed on the lower slope, right above Laurel Prong, and is flanked by two small, lateral seepages that drain into the stream. The sampled vegetation has a dense but tall shrub layer of Kalmia latifolia and an open herb layer with scattered dense patches of Dennstaedtia punctilobula and Maianthemum canadense. Upslope, the topography becomes steeper and rockier, Kalmia is somewhat less dense, and fern cover is more continuous; however, the overall floristic composition is much the same. This site is the only cove in Shenandoah National Park with Rhododendron maximum, a few stems of which occur in the NW corner of the plot.
