Past: Historical Ecosystems
LANDFIRE’s Biophysical Settings (BpSs)
BpS models represent the vegetation system that may have been dominant on the landscape prior to Euro-American settlement. These models are based on a combination of the current environment and an approximation of the historical disturbance regime. Read more.
Check out this 3-minute tutorial for a quick refresher on the basics of Biophysical Settings Models.
Use this page as a starting point to explore the most prevalent BpSs in the SRFSN Colorado Plateau Subregion. In addition to the charts and maps, the historical disturbance data can be directly accessed using this site.
Summary
- Prior to European colonization, the most dominant vegetation system for the Wyoming Sagebrush Subregion was Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie.
- Historically, the Black Hills experienced > 200,000 acres of fire annually.
- Native grazing was the most dominant disturbance historically with over 250,000 grazed annually.
Scroll down to explore the “historical disturbances per ecosystem” using the interactive web app.
Most Prevalent Biophysical Settings
Historic Annual Acres Burned (per ecosystem)
Top Historical Fire Regimes
Historical Disturbances (per ecosystem)
Data Table
| ZONE | BPS_MODEL | BPS_NAME | GROUPVEG | FRI_REPLAC | FRI_MIXED | FRI_SURFAC | FRG_NEW | ACRES | REL_PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 11410_29_30 | Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie | Grassland | 13 | NA | NA | II-B | 1,348,370 | 39.1 |
| 29 | 11791_29_30 | Northwestern Great Plains-Black Hills Ponderosa Pine Woodland and Savanna-Low Elevation Woodland | Conifer | 307 | 263 | 20 | I-C | 1,200,616 | 34.8 |
| 29 | 11792_29_30 | Northwestern Great Plains-Black Hills Ponderosa Pine Woodland and Savanna-Savanna | Conifer | 387 | NA | 15 | I-B | 440,267 | 12.8 |
| 29 | 10480_29 | Northwestern Great Plains Highland White Spruce Woodland | Conifer | 270 | 119 | 45 | I-C | 88,002 | 2.6 |
| 29 | 11390_29 | Northern Rocky Mountain Lower Montane-Foothill-Valley Grassland | Grassland | 35 | NA | NA | II-C | 71,562 | 2.1 |
| 29 | 10860_29 | Rocky Mountain Lower Montane-Foothill Shrubland | Shrubland | 106 | NA | NA | IV-B | 62,582 | 1.8 |
| 29 | 11250_20_29_30_31_33 | Inter-Mountain Basins Big Sagebrush Steppe | Shrubland | 92 | NA | NA | IV-A | 62,548 | 1.8 |
| 29 | 11620_29_30 | Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems | Riparian | 111 | 148 | 259 | III-A | 59,160 | 1.7 |
| 29 | 10110_20_29 | Rocky Mountain Aspen Forest and Woodland | Hardwood | 121 | 588 | NA | IV-A | 27,586 | 0.8 |
| 29 | 10610_20_29 | Inter-Mountain Basins Aspen-Mixed Conifer Forest and Woodland | Hardwood-Conifer | 118 | 102 | NA | III-A | 27,216 | 0.8 |
| 29 | 11590_29 | Rocky Mountain Montane Riparian Systems | Riparian | 99 | 117 | NA | III-A | 26,326 | 0.8 |
| NA | NA | Open Water | Open Water | NA | NA | NA | NA | 8,506 | 0.2 |
| 29 | 11450_29 | Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Mesic Meadow | Grassland | 84 | NA | NA | IV-A | 5,301 | 0.2 |
| NA | NA | Barren-Rock/Sand/Clay | Barren-Rock/Sand/Clay | NA | NA | NA | NA | 1,862 | 0.1 |
| 29 | 11060_20_21_29 | Northern Rocky Mountain Montane-Foothill Deciduous Shrubland | Shrubland | 79 | NA | NA | IV-A | 4,061 | 0.1 |
| 29 | 11490_29 | Western Great Plains Shortgrass Prairie | Grassland | 21 | NA | NA | II-C | 2,346 | 0.1 |
| 29 | 13850_29_30 | Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine | Shrubland | 72 | 38 | 80 | I-C | 2,519 | 0.1 |
| 29 | 10060 | Rocky Mountain Alpine/Montane Sparsely Vegetated Systems | Sparse | NA | NA | NA | NA | 421 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 10070 | Western Great Plains Sparsely Vegetated Systems | Sparse | NA | NA | NA | NA | 709 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 10490_19_20_21_23_28_29 | Rocky Mountain Foothill Limber Pine-Juniper Woodland | Conifer | 385 | NA | NA | V-A | 16 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 10510_29 | Southern Rocky Mountain Dry-Mesic Montane Mixed Conifer Forest and Woodland | Conifer | 94 | 77 | 14 | I-B | 14 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 10540_29 | Southern Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine Woodland | Conifer | 303 | 265 | 20 | I-C | 1,544 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 10550_29 | Rocky Mountain Subalpine Dry-Mesic Spruce-Fir Forest and Woodland | Conifer | 113 | NA | NA | IV-B | 3 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 10620_10_19_21_29_31 | Inter-Mountain Basins Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany Woodland and Shrubland | Shrubland | 286 | 151 | 232 | III-A | 9 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 10720_22_29 | Wyoming Basins Dwarf Sagebrush Shrubland and Steppe | Shrubland | 331 | NA | NA | V-A | 0 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 10850_29_30 | Northwestern Great Plains Shrubland | Shrubland | 15 | NA | NA | II-B | 201 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 11170_29 | Southern Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine Savanna | Conifer | 382 | NA | 16 | I-B | 70 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 11260_20_29_33 | Inter-Mountain Basins Montane Sagebrush Steppe | Shrubland | 50 | NA | NA | IV-A | 114 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 11400_29 | Northern Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Upper Montane Grassland | Grassland | 79 | NA | NA | IV-A | 1,003 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 11480_20_29_30 | Western Great Plains Sand Prairie | Grassland | 22 | NA | NA | II-C | 1,679 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 11530_20_22_29_30 | Inter-Mountain Basins Greasewood Flat | Shrubland | 207 | NA | NA | V-A | 1,686 | 0.0 |
| 29 | 11660_29 | Middle Rocky Mountain Montane Douglas-fir Forest and Woodland | Conifer | 210 | 109 | 24 | I-C | 25 | 0.0 |