Chaparral biome Chaparral biomes Chaparrals are Mediterranean climates

Chaparral biome

Chaparral biomes • Chaparrals are Mediterranean climates which are moderately temperate biomes with hot to dry summers and mild to rainy winters. These biomes are often referred to as a woodland biome or a Mediterranean biome.

Plants of the Chaparral • consist of mostly forests, woodlands and shrubs with vegetation types that can range from forests to woodlands to savannas to shrublands and to grasslands • Hardwood evergreen trees such as oak are very popular in chaparral biomes such as blue oak, poison oak, cork oak, scrub oak, and live oak. • consist of around 48, 250 known vascular plan species which is almost 20% of the total plants known world wide.

Plants and shrubs • Plants that have adapted to this biome are typically less than a meter tall and are very shrubby in appearance. They have many characteristics of desert plants due to the hot dry climate and many are annuals that only flower briefly after rains. These plants are adapted to this environment because of the lower rain fall periodically throughout the year and the fact that hardwoods do not drastically need water all the time.

Animals of the Chaparral • The animals in the chaparral biome highly consist of different varieties of bird such as Sage sparrows, Lawrence’s goldfinch, and Fox sparrows. This biome consists of roughly 30% to 50% of the worlds known animals such as cotton tail rabbits, coyotes, raccoons, different variations of deer and other mammals and several variations of birds.

Animals • These animals rely on this environment and live here because of the amount of small brush cover they have and how well the living conditions and hiding conditions there are for these animals. Since most are of a smaller size and the shrub and plant size are of a smaller size as well this gives these animals a good place to hide and to find and scavenge for food without being detected by to many predators.

• Biomass: the amount of living matter in a given habitat, expressed as either a weight of organisms per unit area or as the volume of organisms per unit volume of habitat. • Productivity: having the power of producing; creative • The net productivity is low because it is characterized as being hot and dry. The soil is this biome is extremely nutrient poor. This is mainly a factor to humans changing other biomes to custom fit the world of their needs. After a biome is destroyed, like the forest, plants that use to hold the ground together die, This leaves the soil nutrient poor and extremely vulnerable to erosion. Once the soil is eroded away, what is left underneath is usually bare rock, clay, or very thin. It takes very long time for nutrient-filled soil to form again.

Threats to the biome. • • DEVELOPEMENT Many are cleared for housing, golf, and other forms of deveopement. Much of the remaining habitat , mainly near the coast, is found in only very small patches and is highly isolated, fragmented, and surrounded by developement, which is generally a hostile envrionment for most native species. • • EXCESSIVE FIRE Because the Chaparral is so very hot and dry, fires usually take place here. An entire chaparral and coastal sage scrub ecosystem can be eliminated and replaced by nonnative weeds and creating a shrubland. Chaparral plants have adapted to some fire regimes in order to survive and carry on AFTER a fire. NEGATIVE PUBLIC ATTITUDES or misconceptions is one, if not, the most destructive reason for the Chaparral's downfall. Without the public's undertsnading and support, chaparral and other native shrublands have no protection against the other two threats. • •

Specific animal • Jackrabbits: • Jackrabbits have huge ears. It can regulate its body heat by increasing or decreasing the blood flow through its ears. This helps the jackrabbit absorb heat or cool off. Their incredible speed helps them outrun many of their enemies. The soles of a jackrabbit's feet are covered with fur. This cushions their feet on hard ground and insulates them from the scorching heat of the desert sand. Their fur is a silver and tan color that blends in well with the desert and chaparral habitat that it lives in.

Specific tree • Blue oak: • The blue oak grows in the valleys and lower slopes of the Coast Ranges, the lower western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and the north slope of the San Gabriel Mountains. • Blue oaks are adapted to drought and dry climates. They can survive temperatures above 100° F for several weeks at a time. Average maximum temperatures in July can range from 70° to 100° F. In January minimum temperatures can range from 10° to 35° F. Annual precipitation averages 20 to 40 inches and mostly falls in the form of rain.