United States
Department
of Agriculture
Forest Service
Rocky Mountain
Research Station
Proceedings
RMRS-P-25
September 2002
Second Forest
Vegetation Simulator
Conference
Fort Collins, Colorado
February 12-14, 2002
Abstract –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Crookston, Nicholas L.; Havis, Robert N., comps. 2002. Second Forest Vegetation Simulator Conference; 2002 February 12-14;
Fort Collins, CO. Proc. RMRS-P-25. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
Station. 208 p.
The Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) is a computer program that projects the development of forest stands in the United States
and British Columbia, Canada. The proceedings of the second FVS conference, held in Fort Collins, CO, includes 34 papers dealing
with applications of FVS that range from the stand-level through full-scale landscape analyses. Forecasts ranging from wildlife habitat
indicators through economic returns on investments take into account the effects of insects, pathogens, and fire. Also presented are
recent advances in computer visualization technology, the analysis of model prediction uncertainty, model development techniques,
software support tools, and the reconstruction of historical stand conditions.
Keywords: forest management, forest planning, landscape dynamics, vegetation dynamics, prognosis model, visualization, growth
and yield, forest health, habitat modeling
The Compilers ______________________________________
Nicholas L. Crookston is an Operations Research Analyst with the USDA Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Research Station in Moscow, ID. He has spent his career working on the base FVS system and
its extensions. His first contribution to FVS, in the late 1970s, involved creating the first extension — one
that represented mountain pine beetle population dynamics in lodgepole pine. Work on the development
of the Douglas-fir tussock moth and western spruce budworm extensions followed. These extensions
formed a template on which all FVS extensions have been based. Mr. Crookston conceived and built the
Event Monitor and, in a collaborative effort with Al Stage, built the Parallel Processing Extension to FVS.
His more recent efforts include designing and building the Suppose user interface and leading the effort
to build the Fire and Fuels extension.
Robert N. Havis is an Information Technology Specialist with the USDA Forest Service, Forest
Management Service Center (FMSC) in Fort Collins, CO. A civil and environmental engineer by training,
Mr. Havis has been involved in software support for FVS base code and model extensions since 1998. He
maintains the FVS base variants and implements new developments in FVS software. The FMSC is the
technology transfer center for the FVS model system, and the keepers of the FVS base code and the Fuels
and Fire Effects extensions. The FMSC distributes the FVS to the public, provides user training and hotline
support, and develops new geographic variants and enhancements to existing variants.
Acknowledgments ___________________________________
Thanks go to the conference committee: Michael VanDyck, Don Vandendriesche, Erin Smith, Chad
Keyser, Robert Havis, Gary Dixon, Nick Crookston, and Judy Adams, and for help with local arrangements
to Melissa Adams. Their efforts were rewarded in a well-received conference. Special appreciation is
extended to the many authors for their high quality manuscripts and cooperation through editorial process.
Louise Kingsbury and the Publishing Services staff at the Rocky Mountain Research Station are
recognized for special effort in publishing these proceedings in a timely and professional way.
Support for the conference and proceedings publication came from conference registration fees and
direct contributions from the Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, the Forest Management Service
Center, and the Forest Ecosystem Process Research Work Unit of the Rocky Mountain Research Station,
all part of the USDA Forest Service.
Second Forest Vegetation
Simulator Conference
Fort Collins, CO
February 12–14, 2002
Compilers:
Nicholas L. Crookston
Robert N. Havis
Conference Endorsements
• The Society of American Foresters (SAF)
• The International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) Groups:
4.11 Statistical Methods, Mathematics and Computer
4.01 Mensuration Growth and Yield
4.02 Forest Resources and Inventory Planning
• The Midwest Mensurationists Organization.
Citation to the First Conference Proceedings
Teck, Richard; Moeur, Melinda; Adams, Judy, comps. 1997. Proceedings: Forest Vegetation Simulator conference;
1997 February 3-7; Fort Collins, CO. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-GTR-373. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 222 p.
i
Contents _____________________________________________________
Page
Bov B. Eav, Ph.D.
Collaborative Technology Development and Transfer:
Keynote at the Second Forest Vegetation Simulator Conference ....................... 1
Session 1. Tools ............................................................................................................................................ 3
John D. Shaw
James N. Long
FVS Lessons on the Web: A Resource for Users and Instructors ...................... 5
Robert J. McGaughey
Creating Visual Simulations of Fuel Conditions Predicted by the
Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator.............................. 8
Anthony W. Courter
Forrest L. Oliveria
James (Rusty) Rhea
Southern Pine Beetle Keyword Component Addfile for Use with FVS .............. 14
Don Vandendriesche
Pre-Suppose: Preprocessor to Suppose ........................................................... 20
Session 2. Reality Check ............................................................................................................................ 29
T. M. Barrett
F. G. Schurr
K. L. O’Hara
Classifying Stand Structure: A Comparison of SVS Images
with Plot Visits and FVS-Generated Metrics ...................................................... 31
Erin E. Smith-Mateja
Carl W. Ramm
Validation of the Forest Vegetation Simulator Growth and
Mortality Predictions on Red Pine in Michigan ................................................... 38
Chad Keyser
Ron Stephens
Calibrating FVS for the Chattahoochee-Oconee National
Forest Planning Effort ........................................................................................ 45
Session 3. Landscape Applications .......................................................................................................... 51
Joy C. Roberts
Using a Multichange Agent Approach with the Forest Vegetation
Simulator on the Boise National Forest, Idaho .................................................. 53
Andrew J. McMahan
Anthony W. Courter
Eric L. Smith
FVS-EMAP: A Simple Tool for Displaying FVS Output in ArcView® GIS .......... 57
Eric L. Smith
Andrew J. McMahan
Thomas Eager
Landscape Analysis Application of the Westwide Pine
Beetle FVS Extension ........................................................................................ 62
Helen Maffei
Brian Tandy
Methodology for Modeling the Spatial and Temporal Effects of
Vegetation Management Alternatives on Late Successional Habitat in
the Pacific Northwest ......................................................................................... 69
S. Hummel
D. Calkin
J. Barbour
Landscape Analysis with FVS and Optimization Techniques: Efficient
Management Planning for the Gotchen Late Successional Reserve ................ 78
David Atkins
Renee Lundberg
Analyst Hazards When Assessing Fire, Insect, and Disease Hazard in
Montana Using FIA Data with FVS: Or Alligators We Didn’t See Coming ......... 83
iii
Glenn A. Christensen
Roger D. Fight
R. James Barbour
A Method to Simulate Fire Hazard Reduction Treatments Using
Readily Available Tools ...................................................................................... 91
David L. Renner
Fred C. Martin
Using the Fuels and Fire Effects (FFE) and Economic (ECON) Extensions
to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) to Evaluate the Impacts of
Silvicultural Regimes .......................................................................................... 97
Albert R. Stage
Using FVS and Its Fire and Fuels Extension in the Context of
Uncertain Climate ............................................................................................ 104
Paula J. Fornwalt
Merrill R. Kaufmann
Laurie S. Huckaby
Jason M. Stoker
Using the Forest Vegetation Simulator to Reconstruct Historical Stand
Conditions in the Colorado Front Range .......................................................... 108
Pamela E. Padgett
Klaus H. Barber
Andy Taylor
Sensitivity of Forest Vegetation Simulations to Scale of the Input
Data and Impact to Estimates of Key Habitat Indictors, Tree Size,
and Density ...................................................................................................... 116
Julee Greenough
Sarah Beukema
Donald Robinson
Werner Kurz
Nancy Densmore
Ralph Winter
Barry Snowdon
Prognosis EI: A Detailed Watershed-Level Environmental
Indicators Model ............................................................................................... 122
H. Temesgen
V. LeMay
Linking PrognosisBC to Aerial Attributes for Timber Supply Analysis in
British Columbia ............................................................................................... 126
Don Vandendriesche
Using the Labeling Capabilities and Parallel Processing Extension
of the Forest Vegetation Simulator for Resource Supply Analysis .................. 127
Session 4. Model Development ............................................................................................................... 133
Robert E. Froese
Andrew P. Robinson
Incorporating Soil Parent Material into Prognosis ............................................ 135
Kelsey S. Milner
Dean W. Coble
Eric L. Smith
Drew J. McMahan
FVSBGC: A Dual Resolution Hybrid Model with Physiological
and Biometrical Growth Engines ...................................................................... 141
Eric L. Smith
Andrew J. McMahan
Gary Z. Wang
Eco-Physiology Approach to Projecting Tree Stress and Vigor in FVS ........... 146
Abdel Azim Zumrawi
Albert R. Stage
Barry Snowdon
Stand-Level Scaling of a Single-Tree, Distance-Independent,
Diameter-Growth Model: Interim Calibration of Prognosis for the
Southeastern Interior of British Columbia ........................................................ 151
Ronald E. McRoberts
Christopher W. Woodall
Veronica C. Lessard
Margaret R. Holdaway
Diameter Growth Models for Inventory Applications ........................................ 158
iv
T. F. Gregg
S. Hummel
Assessing Sampling Uncertainty in FVS Projections Using a
Bootstrap Resampling Method ......................................................................... 164
James W. Flewelling
Robert A. Monserud
Comparing Methods for Modelling Tree Mortality ............................................ 168
Donald C.E. Robinson
Brian W. Geils
John A. Muir
Spatial Statistical Model for the Spread of Dwarf Mistletoe Within and
Between Stands ............................................................................................... 178
Session 5. FVS in Modeling Systems...................................................................................................... 187
J. Wang
W. D. Potter
D. Nute
F. Maier
H. M. Rauscher
M. J. Twery
S. Thomasma
P. Knopp
An Intelligent Information System for Forest Management:
NED/FVS Integration ....................................................................................... 189
Richard Bates
Gary D. Kronrad
Ching-Hsun Huang
Don Vandendriesche
Use of the Forest Vegetation Simulator in Determining Optimal Forest
Rotation Settings for Abandoned Mined Lands in Appalachia ......................... 196
Kevin R. Ceder
John M. Marzluff
Linking Tools of Forest and Wildlife Managers: Wildlife Habitat Evaluation
Using the Landscape Management System .................................................... 200
v
Session 1. Tools
Session 2. Reality Check
Session 3. Landscape Applications
Session 4. Model Development
Session 5. FVS in Modeling Systems
vii