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Succession Classes

The Succession Classes (termed vegetation-fuel classes in the Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook version 1.0, Hann and others 2004 (updated to version 3.0, Barrett and others 2010) (SCLASS) layer characterizes current vegetation conditions with respect to the vegetation species composition, vegetation cover, and vegetation height ranges of successional states that occur within each biophysical setting. SCLASS can also represent uncharacteristic vegetation components, such as exotic species, that are not found within the compositional or structural variability of successional states defined for a biophysical setting. It is important to note that succession classes do not directly quantify fuel characteristics of the current vegetation, but rather represent vegetative states with unique succession or disturbance-related dynamics, such as structural development or fire frequency.

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LF_1.0.0 (National) – To produce SCLASS, the historical reference conditions of these successional states were simulated using the vegetation and disturbance dynamics model LANDSUM (Keane and others 2002). The area contained in succession classes is compared to the simulated historical reference conditions to calculate measurements of vegetation departure, such as fire regime condition class. For Alaska and Hawaii, SCLASS was defined by modelers and identified for each BpS model in the Model Tracker Database, rather than from LANDSUM.

LF_0.5.0 (Rapid Assessment) – SCLASS was developed from Landsat imagery circa 1998 to 2001 and from 1992 National Land Cover Database (NLCD) data. Landsat imagery was used to create intermediate layers of existing vegetation, diameter classes, and canopy cover, which were calculated from training data derived from existing maps and/or a limited amount of plot data. Unique combinations of the intermediate layers were used to assign succession classes "A" through "E" and "U" to each LF_0.5.0 PNVG based on LF_0.5.0 PNVG model descriptions. NLCD data were used to assign the land cover (water, development, agriculture, etc.) classes to this layer. For more information about LF_0.5.0 PNVG descriptions and modeling, please visit the LF_0.5.0 Reference Condition Models section of this website.

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


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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], www.frcc.gov.

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.

Kuchler A. W. 1964. Potential natural vegetation of the conterminous United States (manual and map). Special Publication 36. New York: American Geographical Society. 116 p.

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.