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
5
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
65
%
Field Cover
35
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
A very sterile, floristically depauperate mixed oak/heath forest with a history of logging and fire. Quercus velutina is the leading overstory dominant in and around the plot, and is represented by all age/size classes from seedlings to a residual, 88 cm DBH specimen. This stand represents a variant of the oak/heath forest at Prince Edward-Gallion SF, which is usually co-dominated by Q. alba and Q. montana. This plot is located on a xeric ridge, and the ground and vegetation were parched from weeks of drought on the date of sampling. Vaccinium stamineum is the leading ericad, while a dense mat of roots and humus on the soil surface essentially excludes herbaceous species (Cypripedium acaule and Chimaphila maculata were each represented by a single individual). Cladonia subtenuis, Dicranum sp., and Leucobryum sp. are prominent non-vasculars on the sterile substrate.
0-2 cm: leaf litter
2-5 cm: duff / dense root mat
5+ cm: yellow-brown to reddish-brown fine silt loam, very stony
Substrate hard-packed on date of sampling, very difficult to extract
Disturbance Data:
Disturbance Type
Disturbance Intensity
Disturbance Comment
unknown
Stump-sprouted oaks in stand. Presumed old fire scars on several oaks.
