How Do I Get Started?

First, read the supporting literature (on the documentation page) to see if LANDIS-II is appropriate for your particular question. LANDIS-II requires substantial parameterization and careful research on alternative models will help you decide if the requisite overhead is necessary.

Questions you should ask include: Do I need to represent spatial interactions? Do I need to represent individual species? Or do I expect my community types to be stable through time? Will tree species, age, and biomass data be adequate for my research questions? Do I have access to the data necessary for parameterization?

If you answered YES to most or all of the above, you should read the Core model description followed by the Core model user guide. There you will find the exact parameters required to run the model without extensions.

Next, look through the list of extensions to see which you may like to use. Read the published literature for each extension before reading the user guide. Remember, the user guides are essentially computer manuals.

The last step is to visit the users page and download and install the model. Follow the directions in the LANDIS-II Core User Guide for operating the model.