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Succession Classes

Succession classes (termed vegetation-fuel classes in the Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook version 1.0, Hann and others 2004) characterize 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. The historical reference conditions of these successional states are simulated using the vegetation and disturbance dynamics model LANDSUM (Keane and others 2002). The existing succession classes 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. The area contained in succession classes is compared to the simulated historical reference conditions to calculate measurements of vegetation departure, such as fire regime condition class. 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.

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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.

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.