Chaparral

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Chaparral
Chaparral

• By Teresa Chan

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Where is it Located?

• West coast of the United States (California)
• West coast of South America, Southern Europe
• Cape Town area of South Africa Western tip of
  Australia and the coastal areas of the
  Mediterranean.

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• Mediterranean
• - Europe, Africa, Asia Minor, North America, and
  South
• America. Chaparrals exist between 30 and 40
• - Rolling farmlands
• - Climate in this area is unique with the wet
  season occurring in winter.
• California
• - CA woodland and grasslands
• - peaks that rise up to 5,000 feet above sea
  level and the
• mountains are steeply sloped. Valleys and streams
  are narrow and widely spaced
• - Snow that comes in Winter melts quickly

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Climate

• Consists of all four seasons
• Hot and dry summers
• Mild moist winters
• Winters 10C
• Summer 40C
• 10-20 inches rain per year
• Droughts and fires common

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The Land

• Terrain
• Shrubland
• Flat plains
• Rocky hills
• Mountain slopes
• Does not contain many major
• bodies of water

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Plants and Animals

• Animals
• grassland and desert types adapted to hot, dry
  weather.
• Plants
• Have large, hard leaves, which hold moisture.
• Very well adapted to fires.
• Often have root systems designed to get as much
  water as possible. Shallow roots extend
  horizontally under the surface of the soils and
  are good at catching water when it falls as rain
  taproots extend deep into the soil to capture
  groundwater.
• Plants in the chaparral either are resprouters
  (sprouting back from the surviving roots) or
  reseeders (requiring fire to promote germination
  of the seeds).

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Plants

• Olive tree
• - grow in nutrient-poor, but well-drained soils
• -full sun for fruit production, but also needs a
  slight winter chill for the fruit to set
• -small leaves with a protective coating and hairy
  undersides that slows transpiration
• Blue Oak
• - adapted to drought and dry climates
• - litter of leaves and twigs decomposes
• into a soil high in nutrients and organic matter,
• holding water better than the surrounding areas.
  
• -leaves have waxy coating covers the tough
• and thick leaves to help conserve water.

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Animals

• Golden Jackal
• - small wolf
• - find a mate for life
• - Grow thick coat hair before winter
• Help keeps population of rodent, gazelle, bird,
  and frog population down.
• Aardwolf
• inhabits the open grassland plains in the Fynbos
• Main diet is termites
• Long sticky tongue helps it lap up many
• termites at a time

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Endangered species

• Coastal shrub is endangered because urban and
  agricultural purposes.
• San Joachim kit fox is on the threatened wildlife
  list due to human hunting, electrocution,
  traffic, trapping and poisoning. Grazing animals
  have also destroyed the chaparral habitat that
  protected the kit foxs prey.

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Human Impacts

• Human livestock grazing and herding have
  destroyed the formerly forested chaparral in the
  Mediterranean.
• Humans have cut down trees that birds and animals
  live in. The wood is used for fire and pasture.
• Fires are more frequent due to urban expansion
  into chaparral

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Fire

• Chaparral is a biome that favors fire. They burn
  about every 30-40 years.
• This habitat is fire-adapted and promotes fire.
• Many plants die and do not grow again if fire
  does not occur

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Sources

• http//www.nceas.ucsb.edu/nceas-web/kids/biomes/ch
  aparral.htm
• http//www.lalc.k12.ca.us/uclasp/local_habitats/ha
  bitats/chaparral.html
• http//www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/te
  rrestrial/na/na1201_full.html