T
T
T
Fire Regime - Report

Fire regimes of intermountain riparian communities

Written
February, 2026
Fire Regime Type
Report

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 2026. Fire regimes of intermountain riparian communities. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/fire-regimes/intermountain-riparian

A complete Fire Regime Synthesis for intermountain riparian communities has not yet been published in the Fire Effects Information System. However, LANDFIRE succession modeling of intermountain riparian Biophysical Settings (BpS) provides estimates of fire regime characteristics (see LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings section). Figure 1 shows where these BpSs occur.

A map showing the distribution of intermountain riparian communities in the western U.S.
Photo Credit
Map based on the LANDFIRE (2020) BpS data layer [1].

Figure 1—Land cover distribution of intermountain riparian Biophysical Settings (BpS).

2020 LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings — Historical Fire Regime Characteristics
Biophysical SettingMean Fire Interval (years)Fire Severity Percent (%)
CodeFire Regime GroupLowMixedReplacementAllLowMixedReplacement
Series 11590 - Rocky Mountain Montane Riparian Systems
11590_18IV-B17417400100
11590_12_17V-A37937900100
11590_13IV-A686800100
Series 11540 - Inter-Mountain Basins Montane Riparian Systems
11540_18IV-B17417400100
11540_6_12_16_17V-A37837800100
11540_13IV-A686800100
Summary
Minimum686800100
Maximum37937900100
Mean20720700100
Median17417400100
Percentage of fires in 3 fire severity classes, derived from LANDFIRE succession modeling. Replacement-severity fires cause >75% kill or top-kill of the upper canopy layer; mixed-severity fires cause 26%-75%; low-severity fires cause <26%.
LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings models and descriptions, [Online]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA: The Nature Conservancy, (Producers). Available: https://www.landfirereview.org/search.php [96496]

1. LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings layer, CONUS (LANDFIRE 2.2.0). In: LANDFIRE download data mosaic products, [Online]. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey; U.S. Department of Agriculture (Producer). Available: https://www.landfire.gov/version_download.php [2023, June 20]. [98050]

2. LANDFIRE. 2020. Biophysical settings models and descriptions, [Online]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA: The Nature Conservancy, (Producers). Available: http://www.landfirereview.org/search.php [2022, February 2]. [96496]

Last updated April 28, 2026