Biophysical Settings Models

Author

Randy Swaty, Sarah Hagen

Note

For the most up-to-date information on each LANDFIRE data product, please view the individual product pages on the LANDFIRE Program website.

What you will find in this section

  • The basics of Biophysical Settings models

  • Where to get more information on how to work with the Biophysical Settings models

  • Some interesting uses of the Biophysical Settings models

  • Other resources that will help you utilize the Biophyiscal Settings models

What are Biophysical Settings models, and how were they created?

LANDFIRE, in collaboration with hundreds of experts around the country, created a set of over 900 state-and-transition simulation models (STSMs, hereafter referred to as BpS Models) for ecosystems in the United States. Each LANDFIRE BpS model represents a Biophysical Setting (BpS). The BpS models, originally created in the Vegetation Dynamics Development Tool (VDDT), now updated and manipulated in the SyncroSim ST-Sim package, essentially capture historical disturbance regimes and succession of each BpS. BpS model results include an estimate of the frequency and severity of fire and other disturbances, as well as how much of each succession class would have been on the landscape historically. Further, they are now a platform for:

  • Understanding historical dynamics

  • Exploring how LANDFIRE got to ‘reference conditions’

  • Adding, subtracting, and modifying disturbances and succession classes to not only better understand today’s landscape, but also to look forward

To learn more about the creation of the models, see Blankenship et al., (2021). For more information on working with the models, see the Working with BpS page of our LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings Models and Descriptions Support website.

Working with the Biophysical Settings Models

LANDFIRE Vegetation Modeling website provides step-by-step guidance for working with Biophysical Settings (BpS) models using the SyncroSim platform. The website emphasizes practical application – helping users understand how to use these models to evaluate ecological conditions and simulate the effects of various management strategies. It also includes links to documentation and tutorials to support your workflow as you explore and adapt the models for your specific landscape or project goals.

Some interesting uses of Biophysical Settings models

The BpS models were developed by LANDFIRE to support objectives related to mapping historical vegetation patterns and fire regimes, and for evaluating landscape conditions with the Vegetation Departure metric. Beyond LANDFIRE, the BpS models and descriptions have been used to:

  • Evaluate changes in disturbance regimes. Haugo and others used BpS models to compare current area burned to a reference condition in the northwestern U.S.

  • Represent current, desired, or future conditions. Costanza and others (opens a pdf) modified 45 BpS models to represent current conditions for ecosystems in North Carolina.

  • Evaluate management actions. Low and others (opens a pdf) modified BpS models to measure vegetation departure and evaluate the effects of various management actions.

  • Support collaborative management efforts. Price and others (opens a pdf) worked with experts to modify BpS models as the foundation of a collaborative process to support conservation planning.

Other things you might want to do with Biophysical Settings models

  1. Modify a BpS Model (open the Modifying BpS Models pdf or watch the Modifying BpS Models video on YouTube)

  2. Change the probability of a disturbance (open the Change Probability pdf or watch the Change Probability video on YouTube)

  3. Introduce a new disturbance (open the Introduce Disturbance pdf or watch the Introduce Disturbance video on YouTube)

  4. Add a new state (succession class) (open the Add a State pdf or watch the Add a State video on YouTube)

  5. Delete a state (open the Delete a State pdf or watch the Delete a State video on YouTube)

Helpful Resources

Still have questions? LANDFIRE is here to help.