Forest Vegetation Simulator User Guides
These documents are available as user guides and background information for the simulator, related models, and programs. The variant overviews provide specific information about each variant.
Select the appropriate accordion to expand. You can download the document directly from the links in the Document Title column.
| Document Title | File Date | Type, Size |
|---|---|---|
| Essential FVS: A User’s Guide to the Forest Vegetation Simulator | 05/29/2025 | PDF, 2.02 MB |
| Keyword Reference Guide for the Forest Vegetation Simulator | 03/01/2025 | PDF, 945 KB |
| The Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator: Updated Model Documentation | 02/02/2022 | PDF, 6.09 MB |
| Users Guide to the Database Extension of the Forest Vegetation Simulator Version 3.0 (FVS with SQLite) | 05/22/2025 | PDF, 1.10 MB |
| Document Title | File Date | Type, Size |
|---|---|---|
| Forest Vegetation Simulator Model Validation Protocols | 01/21/2010 | PDF, 96.8 KB |
| National Algorithms for Determining Stocking Class, Stand Size Class, and Forest Type for Forest Inventory and Analysis Plots | 11/12/2002 | PDF, 179 KB |
| Research Applications of the Forest Vegetation Simulator: Documentation and Citation | 09/01/2020 | PDF, 345 KB |
| Climate-FVS Version 2: Content, Users Guide, Applications, and Behavior | 03/04/2014 | PDF, 1.68 MB |
| User Guide to the Economic Extension (ECON) of the Forest Vegetation Simulator | 07/22/2013 | PDF, 280 KB |
| Snag Dynamics in the PN, WC, BM, EC, and SO variants | 03/07/2013 | PDF, 3.08 MB |
| FVS_DB_LINK Utility: User's Guide | 07/23/2012 | PDF, 388 KB |
| Percent Canopy Cover and Stand Structure Statistics from the Forest Vegetation Simulator (RMRS-GTR-24) | 03/15/2001 | PDF, 239 KB |
| Document Title | File Date | File | Type, Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Species Crosswalks Used in Eastern and Western FVS Variants - a Microsoft Excel Workbook including the species crosswalks used in eastern FVS variants (CS, LS, NE, and SN) and western FVS variants (AK, BM, CA, CI, CR, EC, ID, NC, KT, PN, SO, TT, UT, WC, WS). Each species (sorted by scientific name) is mapped to a corresponding species in a given variant. | 11/05/2021 | FVS_SpeciesCrosswalk.xls | XLS, 351 KB |
| 11/05/2021 | FVS_SpeciesCrosswalk.pdf | PDF, 681 KB |