LANDFIRE ›› Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q.	Why are potential natural vegetation groups (PNVGs) used in the Rapid Assessment and biophysical settings used in LANDFIRE National?

The Rapid Assessment used potential natural vegetation groups to ensure that the Rapid Assessment was consistent with the Coarse-scale Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) Assessment (Schmidt and others 2002) and the Interagency FRCC Guidebook (Hann 2004) applications. Use of PNVGs ensured that the vegetation ecology concepts embedded in the Rapid Assessment were familiar to land managers who had previously used agency FRCC applications. The term "biophysical settings" has replaced PNVG in both FRCC and LANDFIRE National. This change has been incorporated to provide a common ground for the use of different potential vegetation concepts among agencies and to increase the clarity of the ecosystem concept.

Back to FAQs

Hann, W.; Shlisky A.; Havlina, D.; Schon, K.; Barrett, S.; DeMeo, T.; Pohl, K.; Menakis, J.; Hamilton, D.; Jones, J.; Levesque, M., 2004. Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook. [Online]. Available: http://www.frcc.gov [June 2006].

Schmidt, K.M., J.P. Menakis, C.C. Hardy, W.J. Hann, and D.L. Bunnell. 2002. Development of coarse-scale spatial data for wildland fire and fuel management. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-87. Fort Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 41p.