Forecasting Landscape and Environmental Change

Explore the models

FUTURES

FUTURES, or FUTure Urban-Regional Environment Simulation, is an open source urban growth model designed to address the regional-scale ecological and environmental impacts of urbanization. It is one of the few land change models developed to explicitly capture the spatial structure of development.

Learn how to use FUTURES

LANDIS-II

The LANDIS-II model simulates landscape change as a function of disturbance (e.g., fire, wind, insects), forest management, land use change, and succession. Climate change effects are integrated throughout the model. The model is highly customizable with dozens of libraries (‘extensions’) to choose from.

Learn how to use LANDIS-II

PoPS

PoPS, the Pest or Pathogen Spread forecast, predicts the spread of invasive plant pathogens and insect pests across large landscapes. Stakeholders employ this user-friendly modeling framework to support collaborative decision-making for management action.

Learn how to use PoPS

Learn more about the interdisciplinary researchers forecasting landscape and environmental change:

Join our user/developer communities

All of the landscape forecasting models at the Center for Geospatial Analytics are open source and continue to expand and improve. We invite you engage with our user/developer communities and help us learn from each other.

FUTURES

Join us on the FUTURES online forum to ask questions, connect with the development team, receive announcements and contribute to discussions. Visit the FUTURES webpage for more information.

LANDIS-II

The LANDIS-II community is very active with hundreds of users and developers worldwide. We welcome anyone to join the LANDIS-II community and to contribute. All model components are free and open-source. There are active bulletin boards for Users and Developers. And there are meetings and trainings held every year in various locations across the US and Canada. Please visit www.landis-ii.org for further information.

PoPS

Join us on the PoPS online forum to ask questions, connect with the development team, receive announcements and contribute to discussions. Visit the PoPS webpage for more information.

FORECASTING NEWS

More

September 30, 2024

Urban Growth Projections Offer Key Insights Shaping Conservation Decisions

Experts from the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) share how the Center’s research informs and strengthens their conservation prioritization strategies.

November 07, 2023

New Model Adds Human Reactions to Flood Risk Assessment

By taking human adaptation into account, a new version of the FUTURES land change model offers a more realistic assessment of flood risk.

January 09, 2023

Postdoctoral Positions Available for Modeling the Spread of Invasive Species

The Biological Invasions group of the Landscape Dynamics Lab at NC State’s Center for Geospatial Analytics is seeking two postdoctoral scholars. Applications will be reviewed until the positions are filled.

September 28, 2022

Natural Solutions and a Clean Water Future for the Cape Fear

Faculty Fellow Katherine Martin and her research team are using the Center’s signature FUTURES land change model to simulate potential new development scenarios throughout the Cape Fear River Basin, to better understand how upstream land-use changes could impact downstream water quality.

June 22, 2022

Undergrad Position Available for Biological Invasions Research

The Landscape Dynamics group at the Center for Geospatial Analytics is recruiting an NC State University undergraduate to assist with ongoing biological invasions research. Applications are due July 26, 2022.

June 08, 2022

Forecasting the Arrival of an Insect Pest

Invasive agricultural pests are a big problem, and the first step to preventing or minimizing their damage is determining whether an area is environmentally suitable for invasion. Predicting *when* a pest is likely to arrive, though, is just as important as anticipating *where*…