Chaparral
Chaparralis ashrublandorheathlandplant community. It is found mainly in the U.S. state ofCalifornia.Also in the northern portion of theBaja California peninsula,Mexico.It is caused by aMediterranean climate(mild, wet winters and hot dry summers) andwildfire.
A chaparral hassummerdrought-tolerant plants.[1]They have hardsclerophyllousevergreenleaves.[2]Chaparral covers 5% of the state of California.[3]Of the associated Mediterranean shrubland, it covers an additional 3.5%.[3]The name comes from theSpanishwordchaparro,referring to scrub oaks.[4]
There are four other chaparral regions in the world.
- parts of theMediterraneancoast, known asmaquis
- CentralChile,known asmatorral
- South AfricanCape, known asfynbos
- South Australia,known askwongan
Chaparral does not often havefires.These are usually atintervalsfrom 10–15 years to over a hundred years. Mature chaparral often hasdensethickets.They are highlyflammable.
References
[change|change source]- ↑Nancy Bauer,The California Wildlife Habitat Garden(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012), p. 175
- ↑William Skinner Cooper,The Broad-sclerophyll Vegetation of California: An Ecological Study of the Chaparral and its Related Communities(Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1922), p. 21
- ↑3.03.1"Hotspot; California on the Edge".California Academy of Sciences. 2005. Archived fromthe originalon 15 August 2014.Retrieved10 June2014.
- ↑Peter R. Dallman,Plant Life in the World's Mediterranean Climates: California, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and the Mediterranean Basin(Berkeley: University of California Press; Sacramento: California Native Plant Society, 1998). p. 67