Fire regimes of mesic-dry western hemlock communities
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. 2026. Fire regimes of mesic-dry western hemlock. 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/western-hemlock-mesic-dry
A complete Fire Regime Synthesis for mesic-dry western hemlock communities has not yet been published in the Fire Effects Information System. However, LANDFIRE succession modeling of mesic-dry western hemlock 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 mesic-dry western hemlock Biophysical Settings (BpS).
| Biophysical Setting | Mean Fire Interval (years) | Fire Severity Percent (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Code | Fire Regime Group | Low | Mixed | Replacement | All | Low | Mixed | Replacement |
| Series 10370 - North Pacific Maritime Dry-Mesic Douglas-fir-Western Hemlock Forest | ||||||||
| 10370_1_2_7 | III-A | 105 | 336 | 80 | 0 | 76 | 24 | |
| Series 11740 - North Pacific Dry-Mesic Silver Fir-Western Hemlock-Douglas-fir Forest | ||||||||
| 11740_1_7 | III-B | 308 | 334 | 160 | 0 | 52 | 48 | |
| Series 10350 - North Pacific Dry Douglas-fir(-Madrone) Forest and Woodland | ||||||||
| 10350_1_2_7 | I-C | 90 | 70 | 367 | 35 | 40 | 50 | 10 |
| Summary | ||||||||
| Minimum | 90 | 70 | 334 | 35 | 0 | 50 | 10 | |
| Maximum | 90 | 308 | 367 | 160 | 40 | 76 | 48 | |
| Mean | 90 | 161 | 346 | 92 | 13 | 59 | 27 | |
| Median | 90 | 105 | 336 | 80 | 0 | 52 | 24 | |
| 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]