FAQ

What is SORTIE-ND?

SORTIE-ND is a forest simulator. It is a model designed to understand the interactions of individual trees with each other and their surrounding environment. SORTIE-ND was originally written as SORTIE in 1996 and has been in use for research ever since. SORTIE-ND is the latest version and the first version widely available and open-source.

What is the difference between SORTIE-ND, SORTIE, SORTIE/BC, etc.?

SORTIE was the original program, in use from 1996 through 2004. It was sometimes referred to with a name such as SORTIE/BC to signify its use for a particular location (in this case, British Columbia). SORTIE/BC was used to designate the whole system - the SORTIE program plus the BC parameters.

Eventually, the SORTIE program was re-designed and re-written from scratch. The current version is now called SORTIE-ND. It can do everything the original SORTIE program could do and more. The "ND" stands for "neighborhood dynamics", which emphasizes the importance of neighborhood processes in the model and de-emphasizes specific locations.

Who uses SORTIE-ND?

The primary users of SORTIE-ND are ecologists using it to perform simulations for research purposes. You can see a list of SORTIE-related publications here. You can see some of our research sites here.

If you are interested in using SORTIE-ND for other purposes, such as classroom education, please contact us. We would like to begin to help develop resources for other users.

How do I get help with SORTIE-ND?

Please begin by reading the user manual. This should give you the information you need to get started.

You can report bugs by contacting tech support.

Is there an example I can look at?

In our downloads area, you can find an example parameter file and an example output file created from it. You can modify this parameter file if you wish, and use it for a starting point.

The parameter file uses published values. For more information, an explanation of the parameters, and the sources, see this topic.

How do I use SORTIE-ND in a research project?

Please see Using SORTIE-ND in a Research Project.

Can I modify SORTIE-ND?

Yes. The source code to SORTIE-ND is available. Developers can download the source code and read the developer manual here. If you are intending to use your modifications for research, please see Guidelines for Modifying SORTIE-ND.

You can request new features for SORTIE-ND by contacting tech support, although no promises are made for whether or not they will be added.