The Hydrologic Engineer Center’s Ecosystem Functions Model – Simulation (HEC-EFMSim) exists within a group of technologies called the HEC-EFM Suite.  Collectively, the EFM Suite assists users with tasks common in ecological modeling, including time series analyses, habitat mapping, and simulation of population dynamics, thereby supporting a range of possible applications.  The EFM Suite consists of EFM, EFM Plotter, GeoEFM, and EFMSim, as shown in Figure and described in Table.

Figure.  The HEC-EFM Suite and the tasks and applications it supports.


Table.  Software of the HEC-EFM Suite.

Software

Description

HEC-EFM

Used to perform time series analyses to help determine ecosystem responses to changes in the flow regime of a river or connected wetland -https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-efm/

HEC-EFM Plotter

Displays and assists with interpretation of EFM output.  Commonly used in conjunction with EFM - https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-efm-plotter/

HEC-GeoEFM

ArcMap extension to support habitat mapping and other spatial analyses commonly performed during applications of EFM - https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-geoefm/

HEC-EFMSim

Performs spatial and temporal simulations of ecosystems.  Outputs include animations of ecosystems.  Population dynamics model - https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-efmsim/


This user guidance has three main parts.  The first part is about the software, including concepts (this and the EFMSim sections) and details (software overview section).  The second part is about model building (see sections including spatial construct, data, communities, and logic).  The third part is about applying the model (see sections about simulations and outputs).