Chaparral
Encyclopedia
Shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...
or heathland
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
(mild, wet winters and hot dry summers) and wildfire, featuring summer drought-tolerant plants with hard sclerophyllous evergreen leaves, as contrasted with the associated soft-leaved, drought deciduous
Drought deciduous
Drought deciduous refers to plants that drop their leaves during dry season or periods of dryness, such as plants of the California Coastal sage scrub community. This may be contrasted to plants that drop their leaves during cold periods....
, scrub community of Coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub is a low scrubland plant community found in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of coastal California and northern Baja California. It is characterized by low-growing aromatic, and drought-deciduous shrubs adapted to the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of the...
, found below the chaparral biome. Chaparral covers 5% of the state of California, and associated Mediterranean scrubland an additional 3.5%.
Introduction
In its natural regime, chaparral is characterized by infrequent fires, with intervals ranging between 10-15 years to over a hundred years. Mature chaparral (stands that have been allowed greater intervals between fires) is characterized by nearly impenetrable, dense thickets (except the more open chaparral of the desert). These plants are highly flammable. They grow as woody shrubs with hard and small leaves; are non-leaf dropping (non-deciduousDeciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
); and are drought tolerant. After the first rains following a fire, the landscape is dominated by soft-leaved non-woody annual plants, known as fire followers, which die back with the summer dry period.
Similar plant communities are found in the four other Mediterranean climate regions around the world, including the Mediterranean Basin
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
(where it is known as maquis
Maquis shrubland
thumb|220px|Low Maquis in Corsica.220px|thumb|High macchia in Sardinia.Maquis or macchia is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs such as holm oak, tree heath, strawberry tree, sage, juniper, buckthorn, spurge olive and myrtle...
), central Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
(where it is called matorral
Chilean Matorral
The Chilean Matorral is a terrestrial ecoregion of central Chile, located on the west coast of South America. It is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, part of the Neotropic ecozone....
), South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n Cape Region (known there as fynbos
Fynbos
Fynbos is the natural shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate...
), and in Western and Southern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. According to the California Academy of Sciences, Mediterranean shrubland contains more than 20% of the world's plant diversity. The word chaparral is a loan word
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
from Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
chaparro, meaning both "small" and "dwarf" evergreen oak, which itself comes from the Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
word txapar, with the exact same meaning.
Conservation International
Conservation International
Conservation International is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, which seeks to ensure the health of humanity by protecting Earth's ecosystems and biodiversity. CI’s work focuses on six key initiatives that affect human well-being: climate, food security, freshwater...
and other conservation organizations consider the chaparral to be a biodiversity hotspot
Biodiversity hotspot
A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans.The concept of biodiversity hotspots was originated by Norman Myers in two articles in “The Environmentalist” , revised after thorough analysis by Myers and others in...
- a biological community with a large number of different species - that are under threat by human activity.
California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion
The California chaparral and woodlandsCalifornia chaparral and woodlands
The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of lower northern, central, and southern California and northwestern Baja California , located on the west coast of North America...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
, of the the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, characterized by dry summers and rainy winters. Summers are typically hot in low-lying inland locations but can be cool near some seas, as near San Francisco, which have a sea of cool waters...
Biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
, has three sub-ecoregions with ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
—plant community subdivisions:
- California coastal sage and chaparralCalifornia coastal sage and chaparral ecoregionThe California coastal sage and chaparral, a sub-ecoregion of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, is found in southwestern California and northwestern Baja California in Mexico.-Location:...
:
In coastal Southern CaliforniaSouthern CaliforniaSouthern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
and northwestern coastal Baja CaliforniaBaja CaliforniaBaja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, as well as all of the Channel IslandsChannel Islands of CaliforniaThe Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America...
off California and Guadalupe IslandGuadalupe IslandGuadalupe Island, or Isla Guadalupe is a volcanic island located 241 kilometers off the west coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula and some 400 kilometers southwest of the city of Ensenada in Baja California state, in the Pacific Ocean...
(Mexico). - California montane chaparral and woodlandsCalifornia montane chaparral and woodlandsThe California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers , including the mountains of the Transverse, Peninsular, and Santa Lucia Ranges of California. It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers...
:
In southernSouthern CaliforniaSouthern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
and central coastCentral Coast of CaliforniaThe Central Coast is an area of California, United States, roughly spanning the area between the Monterey Bay and Point Conception. It extends through Santa Cruz County, San Benito County, Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, and Santa Barbara County...
adjacent and inland California regions, including covering some of the mountains of: the California Coast Ranges; the Transverse RangesTransverse RangesThe Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region that runs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie between...
; and the western slopes of the northern Peninsular RangesPeninsular RangesThe Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, which stretch from southern California in the United States to the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska...
. - California interior chaparral and woodlandsCalifornia interior chaparral and woodlandsThe California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers in an elliptical ring around the California Central Valley. It occurs on hills and mountains ranging from to . It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers...
:
In central interior California surrounding the Central Valley, covering the foothills and lower slopes of the northeastern Transverse Ranges and the western Sierra Nevada range.
Chaparral and woodlands biota
For the numerous individual plant and animal species found within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, see the Flora of California chaparral and woodlands (index), and the Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands (index).- Some of the indicator plants of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion include:
- Quercus species - Oaks — ie:
- Quercus agrifolia - Coast live oak
- Quercus chrysolepisQuercus chrysolepisQuercus chrysolepis, commonly termed Canyon Live Oak, or Golden Cup Oak, is a species of evergreen oak that is found in the southwestern part of North America, notably in the California Coast Ranges. This tree is often found near creeks and drainage swales growing in moist cool microhabitats...
- Canyon live oak - Quercus dumosaQuercus dumosaQuercus dumosa is a species of plant in the Fagaceae family. This tree goes by the common name Coastal sage scrub oak.-Distribution:Quercus dumosa is found in Mexico and the U.S. state of California. It is threatened by habitat loss...
- Scrub oak
- ArctostaphylosArctostaphylosArctostaphylos is a genus of plants comprised by the manzanitas and bearberries. They are shrubs or small trees.There are about 60 species of Arctostaphylos, ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen , with small oval...
species - Manzanitas — ie:- Arctostaphylos glaucaArctostaphylos glaucaArctostaphylos glauca is a species of manzanita known by the common name bigberry manzanita. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodland of coastal and inland hills.-Description:...
- Bigberry Manzanita - Arctostaphylos manzanitaArctostaphylos manzanitaOne of many species of manzanita, Arctostaphylos manzanita has the common names Common manzanita and Whiteleaf manzanita.Arctostaphylos manzanita is endemic to California, where it can be found in the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada foothills...
- Common manzanita
- Arctostaphylos glauca
- CeanothusCeanothusCeanothus L. is a genus of about 50–60 species of shrubs or small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The genus is confined to North America, the center of its distribution in California, with some species in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others extending as far south...
species - California lilacs — ie:- Ceanothus cuneatusCeanothus cuneatusCeanothus cuneatus is a species of flowering shrub known by the common names Buckbrush and wedgeleaf ceanothus.-Distribution:...
- Buckbrush - Ceanothus megacarpusCeanothus megacarpusCeanothus megacarpus is a species of flowering shrub known by the common name bigpod ceanothus. This Ceanothus is endemic to California, where its distribution extends along the Central Coast and includes the Channel Islands.-Description:...
- Bigpod ceanothus
- Ceanothus cuneatus
- Rhus species - Sumacs — ie:
- Rhus integrifoliaRhus integrifoliaRhus integrifolia, also known as Lemonade Berry, Lemonadeberry, or Lemonade Sumac is a shrub to small tree. It is native to the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges and the South Coast regions of Southern California...
- Lemonade berry
- Rhus integrifolia
- EriogonumEriogonumEriogonum is the scientific name for a genus of flowering plants, in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing...
species - Buckwheats — ie:- Eriogonum fasciculatumEriogonum fasciculatumEriogonum fasciculatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and Eastern Mojave buckwheat. This common shrub is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, where it grows on scrubby slopes and in chaparral and dry washes in a number of...
- California buckwheat
- Eriogonum fasciculatum
- SalviaSalviaSalvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, with approximately 700-900 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. It is one of several genera commonly referred to as sage. When used without modifiers, sage generally refers to Salvia officinalis ; however, it is...
species - Sages — ie:- Salvia clevelandiiSalvia clevelandiiSalvia clevelandii is a perennial plant that is native to Southern California and northern Baja California, growing below elevation in California coastal sage and chaparral habitat.-Taxonomy:The plant was named in 1874 by Asa Gray, honoring Daniel Cleveland, a plant collector.-Description:Salvia...
- Cleveland sage - Salvia mellifera - Black sage
- Salvia clevelandii
- Quercus species - Oaks — ie:
California cismontane and transmontane chaparral subdivisions
Another phytogeographyPhytogeography
Phytogeography , also called geobotany, is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of plant species...
system uses two California chaparral and woodlands subdivisions: the cismontane chaparral; and the transmontane (desert) chaparral.
California cismontane chaparral
Cismontane chaparral ("this side of the mountain") refers to a chaparral ecosystem in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrubMediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, characterized by dry summers and rainy winters. Summers are typically hot in low-lying inland locations but can be cool near some seas, as near San Francisco, which have a sea of cool waters...
Biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
in California, growing on the western (and coastal) sides of large mountain range systems, such as: western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in the San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
foothills), and western slopes of the Peninsular Ranges
Peninsular Ranges
The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, which stretch from southern California in the United States to the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska...
and California Coast Ranges, and south-southwest slopes of the Transverse Ranges
Transverse Ranges
The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region that runs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie between...
in the Central Coast and Southern California regions.
Cismontane chaparral plant species
In Central and Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
chaparral forms a dominant habitat. Members of the chaparral biota native to California, all of which tend to regrow quickly after fires, include:
- Adenostoma fasciculatumAdenostoma fasciculatumAdenostoma fasciculatum is a flowering plant native to California and northern Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the chaparral biome.-Description:...
, Chamise - Adenostoma sparsifoliumAdenostoma sparsifoliumAdenostoma sparsifolium, Redshanks or less commonly, Ribbonwood, is a multi-trunked tree or shrub native to dry slopes or chaparral of Southern California and northern Baja California.-Description:...
, Redshanks - ArctostaphylosArctostaphylosArctostaphylos is a genus of plants comprised by the manzanitas and bearberries. They are shrubs or small trees.There are about 60 species of Arctostaphylos, ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen , with small oval...
spp.), Manzanita - CeanothusCeanothusCeanothus L. is a genus of about 50–60 species of shrubs or small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The genus is confined to North America, the center of its distribution in California, with some species in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others extending as far south...
spp., Ceanothus - Cercocarpus spp., Mountain mahogany
- Cneoridium dumosum, Bush rue
- Eriogonum fasciculatumEriogonum fasciculatumEriogonum fasciculatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and Eastern Mojave buckwheat. This common shrub is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, where it grows on scrubby slopes and in chaparral and dry washes in a number of...
, California buckwheat - GarryaGarryaGarrya is a genus of about 18 species of flowering plants in the family Garryaceae, native to North and Central America and the Caribbean. Common names include silktassel, and tassel bush....
spp.), Silk-tassel bush - Hesperoyucca whipplei, Yucca
- Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon
- Lotus scopariusLotus scopariusLotus scoparius is a perennial subshrub in the family Fabaceae . The plant is a pioneer species found in dry areas of California, Arizona, and Mexico...
, Deerweed - Malosma laurinaMalosmaMalosma is a plant genus which contains only a single species, Malosma laurina, with the common names Laurel sumac and Lentisco ....
, Laurel sumac - Marah macrocarpusMarah macrocarpusMarah macrocarpus, the Cucamonga Manroot or Bigroot, is the common manroot of most of Southern California and Baja California.-Foliage:...
, Wild cucumber - Mimulus aurantiacusMimulus aurantiacusMimulus aurantiacus, the Sticky monkey-flower and Orange bush monkey-flower, is a flowering plant that grows in a subshrub form, native to southwestern North America from southwestern Oregon south through most of California...
, Bush monkeyflower - Pickeringia montanaPickeringia montanaPickeringia is a monotypic genus containing only the legume Pickeringia montana, which is known by the common name chaparral pea. It is sometimes called Montana chaparral pea, but this plant is endemic-found only in California....
, Chaparral Pea - Prunus ilicifoliaPrunus ilicifoliaPrunus ilicifolia is an evergreen shrub to tree, producing edible cherries, with shiny and spiny toothed leaves similar in appearance to holly...
), Islay or Hollyleaf Cherry - Quercus berberidifolia, Scrub oak
- Q. dumosaQuercus dumosaQuercus dumosa is a species of plant in the Fagaceae family. This tree goes by the common name Coastal sage scrub oak.-Distribution:Quercus dumosa is found in Mexico and the U.S. state of California. It is threatened by habitat loss...
, Scrub oak - Q. wislizenii var. frutescens
- Rhamnus californicaRhamnus californicaRhamnus californica , is called coffeeberry because its berries contain seeds which look like coffee beans—it is also called California buckthorn...
, California Coffeeberry - Rhus integrifoliaRhus integrifoliaRhus integrifolia, also known as Lemonade Berry, Lemonadeberry, or Lemonade Sumac is a shrub to small tree. It is native to the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges and the South Coast regions of Southern California...
, Lemonade berry - Rhus ovataRhus ovataRhus ovata, also known as Sugar Bush or Sugar Sumac, is an evergreen shrub to small tree that grows in chaparral in dry canyons and south-facing slopes below 1300 m in Southern California, Arizona and Baja California.-Distribution:...
, Sugar bush - Salvia mellifera, Black sage
- Xylococcus bicolorXylococcus bicolorXylococcus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the heath family which contains the single species Xylococcus bicolor, the Mission Manzanita. This is a shrub that grows to three meters in height, two meters in diameter...
), Mission manzanita
Cismontane chaparral bird species
The complex ecology of chaparral habitats supports a very large number of animal species. the following is a short list of birds which are an integral part of the cismontane chaparral ecosystems.
- The species essential to the health of the ecosystem include:
- California thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum)
- California towhee (Pipilo crissalis)
- Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
- Western scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica)
- Very common inhabitant species include:
- Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna)
- Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
- Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae)
- Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)
- Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)
California transmontane (desert) chaparral
Transmontane chaparral or Desert chaparral — transmontane ("the other side of the mountain") chaparralChaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
— refers to the the desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
shrubland habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
and chaparral plant community growing in the rainshadow of these ranges. Transmontane chaparral features xeric desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
climate - not Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
habitats, and is also referred to as Desert chaparral. Desert chaparral is a regional ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
subset of the Deserts and xeric shrublands
Deserts and xeric shrublands
Deserts and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture.-Definition and occurrence:...
Biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
, with some plant species from the California chaparral and woodlands
California chaparral and woodlands
The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of lower northern, central, and southern California and northwestern Baja California , located on the west coast of North America...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
. Unlike cismontain chaparral, which forms dense, impenatrable stands of plants, desert chaparral is open, with only about 50% of the ground covered.
Transmontane chaparral or Desert chaparral is found on the eastern slopes of major mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
systems on the western sides of the deserts of California. The mountain systems include: the southeastern Transverse Ranges
Transverse Ranges
The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region that runs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie between...
(the San Bernardino
San Bernardino Mountains
The San Bernardino Mountains are a short transverse mountain range north and east of San Bernardino in Southern California in the United States. The mountains run for approximately 60 miles east-west on the southern edge of the Mojave Desert in southwestern San Bernardino County, north of the...
and San Gabriel Mountains
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains Range is located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east...
) in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
north and northeast of the Los Angeles basin
Los Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the Peninsular and Transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles as well as its southern and southeastern suburbs...
and Inland Empire; and the northern Peninsular Ranges
Peninsular Ranges
The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, which stretch from southern California in the United States to the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska...
(San Jacinto, Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa Mountains (California)
The Santa Rosa Mountains are a short mountain range in the Peninsular Ranges system, located east of the Los Angeles Basin and northeast of the San Diego metropolitan area of southern California, in the Southwestern United States.-Geography:...
, and Laguna Mountains
Laguna Mountains
The Laguna Mountains are a section of the Peninsular Ranges in eastern San Diego County, California. The mountains run in a northwest/southeast alignment for approximately ....
), which separate the Colorado Desert
Colorado Desert
California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert, which extends across southwest North America. The Colorado Desert region encompasses approximately , reaching from the Mexican border in the south to the higher-elevation Mojave Desert in the north and from the Colorado River in...
(western Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
) from lower coastal Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. It is distinguished from the cismontain chapparal found on the coastal side of the mountains, which experiences higher winter rainfall. Naturally, desert chaparral experiences less winter rainfall than cismontain chaparral. Plants in this community are characterized by small, hard (sclerophyllic) evergreen (non-dropping; non-deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
) leaves. Desert chaparral grows above California's desert cactus scrub plant community, and below the Pinyon-juniper woodland
Pinyon-juniper woodland
A Pinyon-juniper woodland is a forest type characteristic of many parts the Western United States, often in higher elevations of desert ecoregions.-Locations:...
. It is further distinguished from the deciduous sub-alpine scrub above the pinyon-juniper woodlands on the same side of the Peninsular ranges.
Transmontane chaparral distribution
Transmontane—Desert chaparral typically grows on the lower (3500 – elevation) northern slopes of the southern Transverse Ranges (running east to west in San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties) and on the lower (2500 –) eastern slopes of the Peninsular Ranges (running south to north from lower Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
to Riverside and balls!Orange
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
Counties and the Transverse Ranges). It can also be found in higher elevation sky island
Sky island
Sky islands are mountains that are isolated by surrounding lowlands of a dramatically different environment, a situation which, in combination with the altitudinal zonation of ecosystems, has significant implications for natural habitats. Endemism, vertical migration, and relict populations are...
s in the interior of the deserts, such as in the upper New York Mountains
New York Mountains
The New York Mountains are found in northeastern San Bernardino County in California, USA; the range's northeast lies in southeast Nevada. The range lies just south of the small community of Ivanpah, and north of the Lanfair Valley. The mountains are part of the mountain ranges, cones, mountains,...
within the Mojave National Preserve
Mojave National Preserve
Mojave National Preserve is located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31, 1994 with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act by the US Congress...
in the Mojave Desert.
The California transmontane (desert) chaparral is found in the rain shadow deserts of the:
- Sierra Nevada creating the Great Basin DesertGreat Basin DesertThe Great Basin Desert is an area of nearctic high deserts across parts of Nevada, California, and Utah that extends into the Colorado River watershed , but which is mostly a portion of the central Nevada desert basins of the Great Basin.It along with the Escalante Desert, Mohave Desert, the...
and northern Mojave Desert - Transverse rangesTransverse RangesThe Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region that runs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie between...
creating the western through eastern Mojave DesertMojave DesertThe Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States... - Peninsular rangesPeninsular RangesThe Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, which stretch from southern California in the United States to the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska...
creating the Colorado DesertColorado DesertCalifornia's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert, which extends across southwest North America. The Colorado Desert region encompasses approximately , reaching from the Mexican border in the south to the higher-elevation Mojave Desert in the north and from the Colorado River in...
and Yuha DesertYuha DesertThe Yuha Desert is a section of the Sonoran Desert located in the Imperial Valley of California; south of Interstate 8, west of El Centro, CA, and north of the international border....
.
Transmontane chaparral plants
- Adenostoma fasciculatumAdenostoma fasciculatumAdenostoma fasciculatum is a flowering plant native to California and northern Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the chaparral biome.-Description:...
, Chamise (a low shrub common to most chaparral with clusters of tiny needle like leaves or fascicles.) (similar in appearance to coastal Eriogonum fasciculatumEriogonum fasciculatumEriogonum fasciculatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and Eastern Mojave buckwheat. This common shrub is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, where it grows on scrubby slopes and in chaparral and dry washes in a number of...
) - Agave desertiAgave desertiAgave deserti is an agave native to desert regions in southern California, Arizona, and Baja California...
, Desert agave - Arctostaphylos glaucaArctostaphylos glaucaArctostaphylos glauca is a species of manzanita known by the common name bigberry manzanita. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodland of coastal and inland hills.-Description:...
, Bigberry manzanita (smooth red bark with large edible berries, glauca means blue-green, the color of its leaves) - Ceanothus greggiiCeanothus greggiiCeanothus greggii, with the common name Desert Ceanothus, is a species of shrub in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae.-Distribution:...
, Desert ceanothus, California Lilac (a nitrogen fixer, has hair on both sides of leaves for heaat dissipation) - Cercocarpus ledifoliusCercocarpus ledifoliusCercocarpus ledifolius is a species of mountain mahogany known by the common name curl-leaf mountain mahogany.-Description:This is a large, densely-branching shrub or a tree which may reach 10 meters in height. Its leathery, sticky, dark green leaves are up to 4 centimeters long and lance-shaped,...
, Curl leaf mountain mahogany, a nitrogen fixer important food source for Desert bighorn sheepDesert Bighorn SheepThe Desert Bighorn Sheep is a subspecies of Bighorn Sheep that occurs in the desert Southwest regions of the United States and in the northern regions of Mexico. The trinomial of this species commemorates the American naturalist Edward William Nelson... - Dendromecon rigidaDendromecon rigidaDendromecon rigida, also called bush poppy or tree poppy, is a shrub or small tree of the Papaveraceae native to California and Baja California.-Description:...
, Bush poppy (a fire follower with four petaled yellow flowers) - EphedraEphedraEphedra refers to the plant Ephedra sinica. E. sinica, known in Chinese as ma huang , has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for 5,000 years for the treatment of asthma and hay fever, as well as for the common cold...
spp., Mormon teas - Fremontodendron californicum, California flannel bush (lobed leaves with fine coating of hair, covered with yellow blossoms in spring)
- Opuntia acanthocarpa, Buckhorn cholla (branches resemble antlers of a deer)
- Opuntia echinocarpaOpuntia echinocarpaOpuntia echinocarpa, the Silver Cholla or Golden Cholla, depending on color of the spines, is a plant of the desert chaparral community....
, Silver or Golden cholla (depending on color of the spines) - Opuntia phaecantha, Desert prickly pear (fruit is important food source for animals)
- Purshia tridentataPurshia tridentataPurshia tridentata is a nitrogen fixing shrub in the genus Purshia, native to mountainous areas of western North America ranging from southeastern British Columbia in the north, east to Montana and south to California and New Mexico...
, Buckbrush, Antelope Bitterbrush (RosaceaeRosaceaeRosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...
family) - Prunus fremontiiPrunus fremontiiPrunus fremontii is a shrub or small tree reaching up to five meters in height, known by the common name desert apricot. It takes its scientific name from John C. Frémont. It is found in southwestern North America in north and western Baja California especially, mostly Pacific and western, and the...
, Desert apricot - Prunus fasciculataPrunus fasciculataPrunus fasciculata, also known as wild almond, desert almond, or desert peach is a spiny and woody shrub producing wild almonds, native to the deserts of Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah....
, Desert almond, (commonly infested with tent caterpillars of MalacosomaMalacosomaMalacosoma is a genus of Moth in the family Lasiocampidae.-Species:*Malacosoma alpicolum Staudinger, 1870*Malacosoma americanum *Malacosoma californicum *Malacosoma castrense...
spp.) - Prunus ilicifoliaPrunus ilicifoliaPrunus ilicifolia is an evergreen shrub to tree, producing edible cherries, with shiny and spiny toothed leaves similar in appearance to holly...
, Holly leaved cherry - Quercus cornelius-mulleriQuercus cornelius-mulleriQuercus cornelius-mulleri is a species of oak known by the common name Muller oak, or Muller's oak. It was described to science in 1981 when it was segregated from the Quercus dumosa complex and found to warrant species status of its own. It was named for the ecologist Cornelius Herman Muller...
, Desert scrub oak or Muller's oak - Rhus ovataRhus ovataRhus ovata, also known as Sugar Bush or Sugar Sumac, is an evergreen shrub to small tree that grows in chaparral in dry canyons and south-facing slopes below 1300 m in Southern California, Arizona and Baja California.-Distribution:...
, Sugar bush - Simmondsia chinensis, JojobaJojobaJojoba, pronounced , is a shrub native to the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of Arizona, California, and Mexico. It is the sole species of the family Simmondsiaceae, placed in the order Caryophyllales. It is also known as goat nut, deer nut, pignut, wild hazel, quinine nut, coffeeberry, and gray box...
- Yucca schidigera, Mojave yucca
- Hesperoyucca whipplei (syn. Yucca whipplei)), Foothill yucca - Our Lord's Candle.
Transmontane chaparral animals
There is overlap of animals with those of the adjacent desert and Pinyon-Juniper communities.
- Canis latrans, Coyotes
- Lynx rufus, Bobcats
- Neotoma sp., Desert pack rat
- Odocoileus hemionus, Mule deer
- Ovis canadensis, Bighorn Sheep
- Peromyscus truei, Pinyon Mouse, resembles the California mouseCalifornia MouseThe California Mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is the only species in the Peromyscus californicus species group. It is found in north-western Mexico and central to southern California...
Peromyscus californicus - Puma concolor, Mountain lions
- Stagmomantis californicaStagmomantis californicaStagmomantis californica, common name California Mantis, is a species of praying mantis in the genus Stagmomantis native to the Western United States.-Description:...
, the California mantis
The chaparral and wildfires
The Chaparral is a coastal biome with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. The Chaparral area receives about 38 – of precipitation a year. This makes the chaparral most vulnerable to fire in the late summer and fall.The chaparral ecosystem as a whole is adapted to be able to recover from infrequent wildfires (fires occurring a minimum of 15 years apart); indeed, chaparral regions are known culturally and historically for their impressive fires. (This does create a conflict with human development adjacent to and expanding into chaparral systems.) Before a major fire, typical chaparral plant communities are dominated by manzanita
Manzanita
Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus Arctostaphylos. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from southern British Columbia, Washington to California, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, and...
, chamise (also called greasewood or Adenostoma fasciculatum
Adenostoma fasciculatum
Adenostoma fasciculatum is a flowering plant native to California and northern Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the chaparral biome.-Description:...
) and Ceanothus
Ceanothus
Ceanothus L. is a genus of about 50–60 species of shrubs or small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The genus is confined to North America, the center of its distribution in California, with some species in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others extending as far south...
species, Toyon
Toyon
Heteromeles arbutifolia , and commonly known as Toyon, is a common perennial shrub native to California down to Baja California....
(which can sometimes be interspersed with scrub oak
Scrub Oak
Scrub Oak is a general name for several species of small, shrubby oaks, including the following species:*California Scrub Oak *Leather Oak *Coastal Scrub Oak...
s), and other drought-resistant shrubs with hard (sclerophyllous) leaves; these plants resprout (see resprouter
Resprouter
Resprouters are plant species that are able to survive fire by the activation of dormant vegetative buds to produce regrowth.Plants may resprout by means of lignotubers at the base or epicormic buds on the trunk or major branches....
) from underground burl
Burl
A burl or bur or burr is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds.A burl results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be caused...
s after a fire. Some chaparral plant communities may grow so dense and tall that it becomes difficult for large animals and humans to penetrate, but may be teeming with smaller fauna in the understory. Many chaparral plant species require some fire cue (heat, smoke, or charred wood, and chemical changes in the soil following fires) for germination. Others, such as annual and herbaceous species like Phacelia
Phacelia
Phacelia is a genus of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants, native to North and South America....
require fires to allow sunlight to reach them, and are known as fire followers. During the time shortly after a fire, chaparral communities may contain soft-leaved herbaceuous annual plants that dominate the community for the first few years - until the burl resprouts and seedlings of chaparral perennials create an overstory, blocking the sunlight from other plants in the community. When the overstory regrows, seeds of annuals and smaller plants may lie dormant until the next fire creates the conditions required for germination. Mid-sized plants such as Ceonothus fix nitrogen, while others cannot, which, together with the need for exposure to the sun, creates a symbiotic relationship of the entire community with infrequent fires.
Because of the hot, dry conditions that exist in the California summer and fall, chaparral is one of the most fire-prone plant communities in North America. Some fires are caused by lightning, but these are usually during periods of high humidity and low winds and are easily controlled. Nearly all of the very large wildfires are caused by human activity during periods of very hot, dry easterly Santa Ana winds. These man-made fires are commonly caused by power line failures, vehicle fires and collisions, sparks from machinery, arson, or campfires.
Controversy
There are two assumptions relating to California chaparral fire regimes that appear to have caused considerable confusion and controversy within the fields of wildfire and land management: first, that older stands of chaparral become “senescent” or “decadent,” thus implying that fire is necessary for the plants to remain healthy, and second, that wildfire suppression policies have allowed dead chaparral to accumulate unnaturally, creating ample fuel for large fires.The perspective that older chaparral is unhealthy or unproductive may have originated during the 1940s when studies were conducted measuring the amount of forage available to deer populations in chaparral stands . However, according to recent studies, California chaparral is extraordinarily resilient to very long periods without fire and continues to maintain productive growth throughout pre-fire conditions. Seeds of many chaparral plants actually require 30 years or more worth of accumulated leaf litter before they will successfully germinate (e.g. scrub oak: Quercus berberidifolia, toyon: Heteromeles arbutifolia, holly-leafed cherry: Prunus ilicifolia
Prunus ilicifolia
Prunus ilicifolia is an evergreen shrub to tree, producing edible cherries, with shiny and spiny toothed leaves similar in appearance to holly...
). When intervals between fires drop below 10 to 15 years, many chaparral species are eliminated and the system is typically replaced by non-native, invasive, weedy grassland.
The idea that older chaparral is responsible for causing large fires was originally proposed in the 1980s by comparing wildfires in Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
and southern California . It was suggested that fire suppression activities in southern California allowed more fuel to accumulate, which in turn led to larger fires (in Baja, fires often burn without active suppression efforts). This is similar to the argument that fire suppression in western United States has allowed Ponderosa Pine
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
forests to become “overstocked”. In the past, surface-fires burned through these forests at intervals of anywhere between 4 and 36 years, clearing out the understory and creating a more ecologically balanced system. However, chaparral has a crown-fire regime, meaning that fires consume the entire system whenever they burn. In one study, a detailed analysis of historical fire data concluded that fire suppression activities have failed to exclude fire from southern California chaparral, as they have in Ponderosa Pine forests. In addition, the number of fires is increasing in step with population growth. Chaparral stand age does not have a significant correlation to its tendency to burn. Low humidity, low fuel moisture, and high winds appear to be the primary factors in determining when, where, and how large a chaparral fire burns.
See also
- California chaparral and woodlandsCalifornia chaparral and woodlandsThe California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of lower northern, central, and southern California and northwestern Baja California , located on the west coast of North America...
ecoregionEcoregionAn ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
- California coastal sage and chaparral
- California montane chaparral and woodlandsCalifornia montane chaparral and woodlandsThe California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers , including the mountains of the Transverse, Peninsular, and Santa Lucia Ranges of California. It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers...
- California interior chaparral and woodlandsCalifornia interior chaparral and woodlandsThe California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers in an elliptical ring around the California Central Valley. It occurs on hills and mountains ranging from to . It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers...
- Heath (habitat)Heath (habitat)A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
- Fire ecologyFire ecologyFire ecology is concerned with the processes linking the natural incidence of fire in an ecosystem and the ecological effects of this fire. Many ecosystems, such as the North American prairie and chaparral ecosystems, and the South African savanna, have evolved with fire as a natural and necessary...
- International Association of Wildland FireInternational Association of Wildland FireThe International Association of Wildland Fire , a non-profit organization, is professional association of the wildland fire community. IAWF is an independent organization, not affiliated with any private or public agencies. It purpose is to offer a common and neutral ground for the discussion of...