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Fire Regime Condition Class

Fire regime condition class (FRCC) is a discrete metric that quantifies the amount that current vegetation has departed from the simulated historical vegetation reference conditions (Hann and Bunnell 2001; Hardy and others 2001; Hann and others 2004; Holsinger and others 2006). The three condition classes describe low departure (FRCC 1), moderate departure (FRCC 2), and high departure (FRCC 3). This departure is calculated based on changes to species composition, structural stage, and canopy closure. LANDFIRE produces maps of FRCC using methods derived from the Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook (Hann and others 2004; Holsinger and others 2006). For a more detailed technical description, read Developing the LANDFIRE Fire Regime Data Products (Rollins and others 2007). It is important to note that the LANDFIRE FRCC layer represents the departure of current vegetation conditions from simulated historical reference conditions, which is only one component of the FRCC characterization outlined in Hann and others (2004). LANDFIRE simulates historical vegetation reference conditions using the vegetation and disturbance dynamics model LANDSUM (Keane and others 2002; Keane and others 2006; Pratt and others 2006). Current vegetation conditions are derived from a classification of LANDFIRE layers of existing vegetation type, cover, and height.

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Hann, W. J. and D. L. Bunnell, 2001. Fire and land management planning and implementation across multiple scales. International Journal of Wildland Fire 10:389-403.

Hann, W.; Shlisky, A.; Havlina, D.; Schon, K.; Barrett, S.; DeMeo, T.; Pohl, K.; Menakis, J.; Hamilton, D.; Jones, J.; Levesque, M.; Frame, C. 2004. Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook. Last update October 2007: Version 1.3. [Homepage of the Interagency and The Nature Conservancy fire regime condition class website, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, The Nature Conservancy, and Systems for Environmental Management]. [Online]. Available: www.frcc.gov.

Hardy, C. C., K. M. Schmidt, J. M. Menakis, and N. R. Sampson. 2001. Spatial data for national fire planning and fuel management. International Journal of Wildland Fire 10:353-372.

Holsinger, L, R.E. Keane, B. Steele, M. Reeves, and S.D. Pratt. 2006a. Using historical simulations of vegetation to assess departure of current vegetation conditions across large landscapes. Pp. 315-366 in: Rollins, M.G. and C.K. Frame, tech. eds. 2006. The LANDFIRE Prototype Project: nationally consistent and locally relevant geospatial data for wildland fire management. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-175.. U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Keane, R. E., R. Parsons, and P. Hessburg. 2002. Estimating historical range and variation of landscape patch dynamics: limitations of the simulation approach. Ecological Modeling 151:29-49.

Keane, R.E.; L. M. Holsinger, and S.D. Pratt. 2006. Simulating historical landscape dynamics using the landscape fire succession model LANDSUM version 4.0 Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-171CD. US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Fort Collins, Colorado: 73 p.

Rollins, M.; Ward, B.; Dillon, G.; Pratt, S.; Wolf, A. 2007. Developing the LANDFIRE Fire Regime Data Products. [Homepage of the LANDFIRE Project website, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Department of the Interior]. [Online]. Available: http://www.landfire.gov/documents_frcc.php.