Data Products ›› LANDFIRE Vegetation Product Descriptions

Biophysical Settings

The Biophysical Settings (BpS) layer represents the vegetation that may have been dominant on the landscape prior to Euro-American settlement and is based on both the current biophysical environment and an approximation of the historical disturbance regime.

LF_1.1.0 (Refresh 2008) – Improvements found in LF_1.1.0 include resolving inconsistencies along the international borders and adjusting the extent of barren and water land cover types.

LF_1.0.5 (Refresh 2001) – Improvements found in LF_1.0.5 include resolving inconsistencies along the international borders and adjusting the extent of barren and water land cover types.

LF_1.0.0 (National) – BpS is a refinement of the Environmental Site Potential layer; in this refinement, we attempt to incorporate current scientific knowledge regarding the functioning of ecological processes – such as fire – in the centuries preceding non-indigenous human influence. Map units are based on NatureServe's Ecological Systems classification, which is a nationally consistent set of mid-scale ecological units (Comer and others 2003). LANDFIRE's use of these classification units to describe biophysical settings differs from their intended use as units of existing vegetation. As used in LANDFIRE, map unit names represent the natural plant communities that may have been present during the reference period. Each BpS map unit is matched with a model of vegetation succession, and both serve as key inputs to the LANDSUM landscape succession model (Keane and others 2002). The LANDFIRE BpS concept is similar to the concept of potential natural vegetation groups used in mapping and modeling efforts related to fire regime condition class (Schmidt and others 2002; www.frcc.gov).

LF_0.5.0 (Rapid Assessment) – This biophysical classification was based originally on Kuchler's work (1964), modified during the Coarse-Scale Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) Assessment (Schmidt and others 2002), refined in the development of the Interagency FRCC Guidebook (Barrett and others 2010), and then further refined during the Rapid Assessment (RA) process. In this process, the RA team conducted twelve week-long workshops throughout the conterminous United States to garner input from over 250 local land managers. Experts collaborated to refine the Potential Natural Vegetation Group (synonymous with BpS) (PNVG) classification, write PNVG descriptions, model each PNVG to determine reference conditions, and assign mapping rules for each PNVG.

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.

Please refer to the instructions on how to link to Ecological Systems descriptions to LANDFIRE vegetation map product legends.

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_0.5.0 (Rapid Assessment)



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Comer, P., D. Faber-Langendoen, R. Evans, S. Gawler, C. Josse, G. Kittel, S. Menard, M. Pyne, M. Reid, K. Schulz, K. Snow, and J. Teague. 2003. Ecological Systems of the United States: A Working Classification of U.S. Terrestrial Systems. NatureServe, Arlington, VA. 75 p.

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.

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.