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
27
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
60
%
Shrub Cover
25
%
Field Cover
10
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Elongate, peat-filled swales in ancient dunes about 1 to 1.5 km back from the ocean in the northeastern part of Seashore State Park are deeply flooded and support distinctive vegetation dominated by Spanish moss-draped baldcypress trees and flood-tolerant shrubs. These swales normally retain some water year-round, but had drawn down except in the deepest hollows on the date of survey due to prolonged drought in the summer of 2007. This provided a rare opportunity to explore these habitats and easily sample the vegetation. The overstory here is an uneven-aged stand of baldcypress up to ca. 1.0 m DBH. Patches of Cephalanthus and a few other shrubs occur under the trees. Most herbaceous plants occupy elevated microhabitats on baldcypress knees, shrub bases, and logs, but extensive mats of Utricularia gibba were stranded on the wet, exposed peat.
