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
23
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
70
%
Field Cover
75
%
Nonvascular Cover
50
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The vegetation in this plot contrasts sharply with that in BOTE002 and BOTE012 from the same site, and is representative of the lower woodland slopes above Catawba Creek. The habitat here is covered by dolomite boulders and is probably best characterized as subxeric, or even submesic. Interestingly, soil samples collected from this plot have much lower magnesium content and somewhat higher calcium than the other two plots. The woodland canopy is denser, taller, and composed of variable mixtures of Quercus muhlenbergii, Q. shumardii, Juniperus virginiana, and Fraxinus americana. The herb layer is very dense and contains large clones of several calciphilic forbs, particularly Hybanthus concolor, Jeffersonia diphylla, and Salvia urticifolia, with which a diverse assemblage of lower-cover forbs is associated. Many of the larger oaks have an open-grown crown architecture, suggesting that past disturbances such as clearing, cedar cutting, fire, and livestock grazing may have kept this slope more open and fostered the xerophytic woodland vegetation. The abundant regeneration of Fraxinus americana, Cercis canadensis, and other trees, as well as the proliferation of dry-mesophytic forbs, appear to have followed the cessation of these disturbances decades ago.
0-1 cm: deciduous leaf litter
1-10+ cm: rmedium brown clay loam, very rocky
Disturbance Data:
Disturbance Type
Disturbance Intensity
Disturbance Comment
unknown
Old cut red cedar stumps in and around plot. Several Cercis canadensis snags in plot (killed by drought?). Very low cover of exotics (one species - Lonicera japonica).