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
1000
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
33
m
Shrub Height
5
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
95
%
Shrub Cover
60
%
Field Cover
30
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
A fairly mature oak-hickory-tulip-poplar stand occupying a dry-mesic, gentle, Coastal Plain ridge crest. Soil samples collected here have surprisingly high pH, calcium, magnesium, and total base saturation for the area. Quercus alba is the leading canopy dominant, but medium- to large-diameter Quercus rubra, Carya ovalis, Carya alba, and Liriodendron tulipifera are associated throughout. The herb layer is quite open but notably diverse and characterized by patch-dominance of Amphicarpaea bracteata and Cynoglossum virginianum. This stand is undergoing significant compositional changes as the result of pathogens, fire exclusion, and successional advance. Cornus florida, although still dominant in the shrub layer, has suffered major mortality from the dogwood anthracnose fungus. Recruitment of the overstory species is virtually absent, while saplings and young trees of Fagus grandifolia and Ilex opaca have attained densities second only to Cornus florida.