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Vegetation Condition Class

Vegetation Condition Class (VCC) 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; Barrett and others 2010; Holsinger and others 2006). The three condition classes describe low departure (VCC 1), moderate departure (VCC 2), and high departure (VCC 3).

LF_1.1.0 (Refresh 2008) – LF_1.1.0 used LF_1.0.5 (Refresh 2001) data as a launching point to incorporate disturbance and its severity, both managed and natural, which occurred on the landscape after 2001. Specific examples of disturbance are: fire, vegetation management, weather, and insect and disease. The final disturbance data used in LF_1.1.0 are the result of several efforts that include data derived in part from remotely sensed land change methods, Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS), and the LANDFIRE Refresh events data call. Vegetation growth was modeled where both disturbance and non-disturbance occurred.

LF_1.0.5 (Refresh 2001) – Imagery used in LF_1.0.0 (LANDFIRE National) covered a span of years, and because of this, several large wildland fires are not represented in the data. LF_1.0.5 data ensure wildland fires through 2001 are represented.

Additional improvements found in LF_1.0.5 data products include resolving inconsistencies along the international borders and updating aspects of the following: riparian and wetlands areas, agricultural and urban vegetation types as burnable, and adjusting the extent of barren and water land cover types.

LF_1.0.0 (National) – VCC was calculated based on changes to species composition, structural stage, and canopy closure and used methods derived from the Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook (Barrett and others 2010); Holsinger and others 2006). For a more detailed technical description, read Developing the LANDFIRE Fire Regime Data Products (Rollins and others 2007). The VCC layer represents the departure of current vegetation conditions from simulated historical reference conditions, which is only one component of the VCC characterization outlined in Barrett and others (2010). 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 existing vegetation type, cover, and height.

LF_0.5.0 (Rapid Assessment) – FRCC was calculated for each LF_0.5.0 potential natural vegetation group (PNVG) within an ECOMAP subsection using standard Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook methods (Barrett and others 2010). Reference conditions were estimated through the LF_0.5.0 PNVG modeling effort (for more information, please visit the LF_0.5.0 Reference Condition Models section of this website). Current conditions were estimated as part of the LF_0.5.0 Succession Classes spatial data layer. For additional information on the methods used to calculate FRCC, please visit www.frcc.gov.

Read case studies about the use of Fire Regime data products.

Metadata:
LF_1.1.0 (Refresh 2008)
LF_1.0.5 (Refresh 2001)
LF_1.0.0 (National)
LF_0.5.0 (Rapid Assessment)

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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.

Barrett, S.; Havlina, D.; Jones, J.; Hann, W.; Frame, C.; Hamilton, D.; Schon, K.; Demeo, T.; Hutter, L.; and Menakis, J. 2010. Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook. Version 3.0 [Homepage of the Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class website, USDA Forest Service, US Department of the Interior, and The Nature Conservancy]. [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.

Schmidt, Kirsten M., Menakis, James P., Hardy, Colin C., Hann, Wendel J., and Bunnell, David L. 2002. Development of coarse-scale spatial data for wildland fire and fuel management. General Technical Report RMRSGTR-87. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 41p. Available at: www.fs.fed.us/fire/fuelman.