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
31
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
70
%
Field Cover
10
%
Nonvascular Cover
10
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
A linear (10 x 40 m) plot configuration was used to confine sampling to a narrow terrace/bench along the headwaters of Onemile Run in a deep cove weathered into acidic metasedimentary rocks of the Chilhowee Group. The substrate consists of deeply piled, probably Pleistocene-age quartzite boulder deposits partly covered by more recent colluvium and alluvium. The vegetation is a largely deciduous forest (Acer rubrum, Betula lenta, Nyssa sylvatica, Quercus rubra, Tilia americana) with a number of relatively healthy Tsuga canadensis (although minor branch die-back from adelgids is present). This is one of the few sites in Shenandoah National Park where hemlock with largely intact foliage has been recently encountered. Inexplicably, not a single Liriodendron tulipifera (normally a characteristic species of acidic coves) was seen along a 0.2 km stretch of the stream bottom. The herb layer is rather sparse (ca. 10% cover) and dominated by low woody plants and tree seedlings, but species richness (n = 56) is surprisingly high.
