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
70
%
Shrub Cover
75
%
Field Cover
40
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
A medium-age mixed oak / heath forest occupying a gentle interfluve in a Piedmont-like landscape at the foot of Tinker Mountain. The largest trees in the stand are Quercus coccinea, Quercus velutina, and scattered individuals of Pinus rigida and P. echinata, but Quercus montana and Q. alba are recruiting heavily in every age-class and can be expected to attain dominance in the near future. Oxydendrum arboreum dominates the understory, while deciduous heaths (Gaylussacia baccata and Vaccinium spp.) form extensive clones in a low shrub layer. Fire has undoubtedly been a strong ecological influence on this stand in the past.