Past
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 for your analysis area. In addition to the charts and maps, the historical disturbance data can be directly accessed using this site.
Summary
Historically the top 10 BpSs represented ~85% of the landscape, and ~ 3% of the total area of the Ottawa being disturbed yearly.
- Cumulatively ~32K acres of the Ottawa would have been disturbed every year historically, with wind/weather/stress, insects/disease and surface fire being the dominant disturbances.
- The Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest-Hemlock, Boreal White Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest-Inland and
Boreal Jack Pine-Black Spruce Forest - Pine Barrens BpSs covered over 50% of the Ottawa. - While the Ottawa was not dominated by fire-dependent ecosystems, there were important pockets of ecosystems that would have had surfance fire frequently (< 20 years between fires).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | 13022_41_50_51 | Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest-Hemlock | Hardwood | 2,040 | NA | NA | V-B | 467,499 | 29.9 |
| 51 | 13651_51 | Boreal White Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest-Inland | Conifer | 490 | 524 | NA | V-A | 222,303 | 14.2 |
| 50 | 13022_41_50_51 | Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest-Hemlock | Hardwood | 2,040 | NA | NA | V-B | 168,971 | 10.8 |
| 50 | 13022_41_50_51 | Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest-Hemlock | Hardwood | 2,040 | NA | NA | V-B | 136,871 | 8.7 |
| 51 | 14810_41_50_51_63 | Laurentian-Acadian Alkaline Conifer-Hardwood Swamp | Riparian | 989 | NA | NA | V-B | 97,528 | 6.2 |
| 51 | 14770_40_41_50_51 | Boreal Acidic Peatland Systems | Riparian | 716 | NA | 123 | III-B | 84,785 | 5.4 |
| 51 | 13022_41_50_51 | Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest-Hemlock | Hardwood | 2,040 | NA | NA | V-B | 82,678 | 5.3 |
| 50 | 14770_40_41_50_51 | Boreal Acidic Peatland Systems | Riparian | 716 | NA | 123 | III-B | 78,745 | 5.0 |
| 51 | 13660_51_63_64_65_66 | Laurentian-Acadian Pine-Hemlock-Hardwood Forest | Hardwood-Conifer | 482 | 998 | 289 | III-B | 58,935 | 3.8 |
| NA | NA | Open Water | Open Water | NA | NA | NA | NA | 46,021 | 2.9 |
| 50 | 14810_41_50_51_63 | Laurentian-Acadian Alkaline Conifer-Hardwood Swamp | Riparian | 989 | NA | NA | V-B | 32,863 | 2.1 |
| 51 | 13620_51_63_64_65_66 | Laurentian-Acadian Northern Pine(-Oak) Forest | Hardwood-Conifer | 309 | 447 | 65 | III-A | 21,285 | 1.4 |
| 51 | 13441_51 | Boreal Jack Pine-Black Spruce Forest-Pine Barrens | Conifer | 34 | 64 | 7 | I-A | 14,633 | 0.9 |
| 50 | 13622_41_50 | Laurentian-Acadian Northern Pine(-Oak) Forest-Pine Dominated | Hardwood-Conifer | 230 | NA | 40 | I-C | 11,245 | 0.7 |
| 51 | 13652_51 | Boreal White Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest-Coastal | Conifer | 872 | 1,306 | NA | V-B | 9,757 | 0.6 |
| 50 | 14940_41_50_51 | Laurentian-Acadian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems | Riparian | 18 | NA | NA | II-C | 6,004 | 0.4 |
| 51 | 13023_51 | Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest-Northern Sugar Maple-Basswood | Hardwood | 1,016 | NA | NA | V-B | 5,974 | 0.4 |
| 51 | 13442_51 | Boreal Jack Pine-Black Spruce Forest-Spruce-Fir | Conifer | 112 | NA | NA | IV-B | 6,027 | 0.4 |
| 50 | 14750_41_50_51_63_64_65_66 | Laurentian-Acadian Floodplain Systems | Riparian | NA | 435 | 68 | III-A | 3,752 | 0.2 |
| 51 | 14750_41_50_51_63_64_65_66 | Laurentian-Acadian Floodplain Systems | Riparian | NA | 435 | 68 | III-A | 2,362 | 0.2 |
| 50 | 13660_50 | Laurentian-Acadian Pine-Hemlock-Hardwood Forest | Hardwood-Conifer | 483 | 1,018 | 291 | III-B | 1,335 | 0.1 |
| 50 | 14440_41_50_51 | Eastern Boreal Floodplain | Hardwood | NA | 581 | 312 | V-A | 1,946 | 0.1 |
| 51 | 14440_41_50_51 | Eastern Boreal Floodplain | Hardwood | NA | 581 | 312 | V-A | 1,710 | 0.1 |
| NA | NA | Barren-Rock/Sand/Clay | Barren-Rock/Sand/Clay | NA | NA | NA | NA | 2 | 0.0 |
| 50 | 13651_40_41_50 | Boreal White Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest-Inland | Conifer | 250 | 1,468 | NA | V-A | 712 | 0.0 |
| 50 | 14072_41_50_51 | Laurentian Pine-Oak Barrens-Jack Pine | Conifer | 25 | 46 | 18 | I-B | 16 | 0.0 |
| 50 | 14120_39_40_41_42_43_50_51 | North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie | Grassland | 4 | NA | 87 | II-A | 350 | 0.0 |
| 50 | 14210_31_38_42_43_44_50_51 | Central Tallgrass Prairie | Grassland | 4 | NA | NA | II-A | 410 | 0.0 |
| 51 | 14071_41_50_51 | Laurentian Pine-Oak Barrens | Hardwood-Conifer | 109 | 75 | 5 | I-A | 497 | 0.0 |
| 51 | 14072_41_50_51 | Laurentian Pine-Oak Barrens-Jack Pine | Conifer | 25 | 46 | 18 | I-B | 200 | 0.0 |
| 51 | 14660_50_51 | Great Lakes Wooded Dune and Swale | Riparian | 3,715 | 536 | NA | V-A | 1 | 0.0 |
| 51 | 14920_41_50_51_52_63 | Great Lakes Coastal Marsh Systems | Riparian | NA | NA | NA | NA | 6 | 0.0 |
| 51 | 14940_41_50_51 | Laurentian-Acadian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems | Riparian | 18 | NA | NA | II-C | 8 | 0.0 |