Landscape analysis and simulation shell (Lass)

We present a set of models for simulating vegetation dynamics in disturbance-prone ecosystems with different complexity levels, integrated in a modelling environment for generating landscapes and analysing landscape patterns and simulation results (Lass). Three spatially explicit simulation models with different degrees of complexity are included in Lass: a qualitative simulation model (presence/absence of species in the grid system; the Melca model), a model based on the semiquantitative abundance of different species in each cell (the Fateland model) and a quantitative individual-based model of vegetation dynamics (the Brolla model); all of them are in a spatially explicit framework. Examples for using the Lass environment and the simulation models are provided.