Fire regimes of Rocky Mountain subalpine mixed-conifer communities
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 2026. Fire regimes of Rocky Mountain subalpine mixed-conifer 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/rocky-mountain-subalpine-mixed-conifer
A complete Fire Regime Synthesis for Rocky Mountain subalpine mixed-conifer communities has not yet been published in the Fire Effects Information System. However, LANDFIRE succession modeling of Rocky Mountain subalpine mixed-conifer Biophysical Settings (BpS) provides estimates of fire regime characteristics (see LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings section). Figure 1 shows where these BpSs occur.
Figure 1—Land cover distribution of Rocky Mountain subalpine mixed-conifer Biophysical Settings (BpS).
| Biophysical Setting | Mean Fire Interval (years) | Fire Severity Percent (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Code | Fire Regime Group | Low | Mixed | Replacement | All | Low | Mixed | Replacement |
| Series 10560 - Rocky Mountain Subalpine Mesic-Wet Spruce-Fir Forest and Woodland | ||||||||
| 10560_15_28 | IV-B | 435 | 199 | 137 | 0 | 31 | 69 | |
| 10560_16_23 | V-A | 6998 | 217 | 210 | 0 | 3 | 97 | |
| 10560_29 | V-A | 1073 | 349 | 263 | 0 | 25 | 75 | |
| 10560_21_22 | V-A | 895 | 432 | 291 | 0 | 33 | 67 | |
| 10560_20 | V-A | 2915 | 216 | 201 | 0 | 7 | 93 | |
| 10560_10_19 | IV-B | 181 | 181 | 0 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Series 10550 - Rocky Mountain Subalpine Dry-Mesic Spruce-Fir Forest and Woodland | ||||||||
| 10550_15_28 | IV-B | 435 | 199 | 137 | 0 | 31 | 69 | |
| 10550_27 | IV-B | 443 | 201 | 139 | 0 | 31 | 69 | |
| 10550_16_23_24 | V-A | 7242 | 214 | 208 | 0 | 3 | 97 | |
| 10550_10_19 | IV-B | 412 | 205 | 137 | 0 | 33 | 67 | |
| Summary | ||||||||
| Minimum | 412 | 181 | 137 | 0 | 0 | 67 | ||
| Maximum | 7242 | 432 | 291 | 0 | 33 | 100 | ||
| Mean | 2316 | 241 | 190 | 0 | 20 | 80 | ||
| Median | 895 | 210 | 191 | 0 | 28 | 72 | ||
| 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]