Abstract:
SIMPPLLE is an acronym for SIMulating Patterns and Processes at Landscape scaLEs. SIMPPLLE was initially developed for USDA Forest Service, Region One as a management tool to integrate disturbance processes and vegetation conditions at a range of spatial scales. Additional funding has came from Joint Fire Sciences program, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Geological Services (USGS), Ecosystem
... Management Research Institute (EMRI), and Montana State University to support development and use in other ecosystems. A basic overview publication is in the Western Journal of Applied Forestry (Chew et al 2004). Earlier publications discussing the design and development of the system are in Chew 1993, 1995, 1997. The objective of SIMPPLLE is to help provide an understanding of the dynamics of landscapes. SIMPPLLE is not designed to provide a precise prediction of when and where processes will occur, but it is spatially explicit. The spatial interaction between landscape features and disturbance processes is considered important enough that for the type of applications SIMPPLLE is designed for a nonspatial approach would not be desired. A range of possible outcomes for landscapes can be quantified by multiple simulations. Multiple simulations can provide a prediction of general trends for the processes on a specific landscape. Results from multiple simulations can be expressed as a probability of occurrence for the disturbance processes as well as the attributes by which plant communities are described. Individual simulations can be used as an example of one possible outcome for a given landscape. Individual simulations can be selected from a set of multiple simulations to represent worst-case scenarios for specific disturbance processes, a most likely scenario, or a most optimistic scenario.
[Summary provided by the US Forest Service.] 
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