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
30
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
60
%
Field Cover
3
%
Nonvascular Cover
5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot is located on the toe slope of a cove along one of the head branches of Buffalo Branch. Its vegetation, a mixed forest of Pinus strobus, Liriodendron tulipifera, Betula lenta, and Acer rubrum, is representative of extensive forests that occupy the bottom and lower slopes of the cove. However, the characteristic shrub understory of Rhododendron maximum is more open in the plot than in many areas, allowing a notable diversity of herbs to grow, albeit at very low cover. This stand has not been logged in perhaps 60-70 years.