For example, fire effects technicians quantify the vegetation and assign a habitat type in order to monitor the effects of fire on specific plant communities in a prescribed burn. Forest habitat types are generally named after the dominant tree species followed by the dominant shrub or forb. There are thirteen fuel models that range from grasslands to forests. In Yellowstone most wildfires burn in fuel models 8 and 10 which represent conifer forests with varying fuel loads. Other fuel models describe grass- and shrublands.
Fuel models are another way to predict fire behavior and rates of spread.
Anderson, H.E. 1982. Aids to determining fuel models for estimating fire behavior. National Wildfire Coordinating Group General Technical Report INT-122. Despain, D.G. 1990. Consequences of environment and history in a natural setting.