The Chaparral

DESCRIPTION OF CHAPARRAL

CALIFORNIA CHAPARRAL 

The California Chaparral is located in one of the five places in the world where the Mediterranean ecosystem occurs. California Chaparral is near the tropic of Capricorn, thus the climate is generally moderated by cold ocean currents offshore. Generally, the climate consist of hot dry summers; mild and wet winters.

Chaparral plants adapt to heat and are evergreen and light colored with relatively small leaves pointing up. The plants are categorized as shrubs which have multiple stems that break off at the base. The seeds of the shrubs require fire to open up; thus fire is a prerequisite in this ecosystem. Since fire is a natural part of the ecosystem the plants have adjusted around that inevitability with basal sprouting and having a turpentine exterior on the leaves of the shrubs. Unfortunately, endemism is frequent in the flora (flowers) and fauna (animals) because of the relative isolation of each Mediterranean ecosystem.

LOCAL SCALE OF CHAPARRAL 

Spatial Scale of  Chaparral

The Chaparral is found in the coast of California. It is present in the Sierra Nevada. The Chaparral has a  latitude range of 53° to 65º North and the mountain range is at 32° to 60º North. There is a peak that rises 5,000 feet above sea level and the mountain are slopped. 

HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CHAPARRAL 

The Gradual Change of the Chaparral 

Chaparral is a complex of shrubby vegetation types, characterized by evergreen sclerophyll shrubs in genera such as Adenostoma, Ceanothus, and Arctostaphylos. However, California chaparral is becoming a weedy, non-native grassland. Fires have swept entire areas where chaparral used to exist, eliminating native plants and replacing them by non-native plants; such change can be observed in the East of Alpine off Interstate 8 in San Diego County shown in the picture above. The left portion of the picture shows an old-growth chaparral stand last burned during the 1970 Laguna fire. The center of the picture shows an area recovering from the Viejas fire of January 3, 2001. It is composed primarily of and several other shrub species, such as chamise and deerweed,. To the right is a portion of the Viejas fire scar burned again in the Cedar fire October, 2003. Due to the fact that the majority of the resprouting shrubs have been killed and no obligate seeding species, such as Ceanothus, are present, it is very visible that the Cedar fire scar is now filled with non-native grasses. The interval between the two fires was too short, causing the elimination of the chaparral plant community.

WHAT IT USE TO LOOK LIKE

Historical Image of Chaparral

The California Chaparral once looked like the above image. It possessed rich flora area which were and still are essentially shrubs. This formed a rich habitat for oak seedling and for various animal species. Five species that lived in the Chaparral were mammoths, native horse, camels, rhinos, ground sloths

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE NOW

Current Image of Chaparral

Currently this is an accurate depiction of the visual aspect of the California chaparral. Unfortunately, currently oak seedlings and seedlings in general fail in regards to growth due to cattle grazing. The Chaparral as it is known today is predominantly covered with non-native plants. This causes the non-native plants to adapt to the climate characteristics of the Chaparral. All the oaks that are still present are approximately one hundred years old.

HUMAN IMPACTS

Chaparral flora and fauna disappears due to urbanization and  industrialization 

Graph Depiction of Human Caused fires in California Chaparral

California Chapparal faces significant, continuous human impact on its sustainability. One of the unique challenges Chapparal conservation faces is the California suburban sprawl. Urban development is one of the biggest impacts on the California Chapparal. The amount of resources needed to both build, and maintain the numerous highway systems, shopping malls, housing developments that suburban sprawl needs is vastly inefficient. As everything is spread out, cars are a necessity to suburban life and contribute to the pollution Chapparals suffer from. Highways also cut through and clear the vegetation of many ecosystems, which causes "(Keeley, 1993; Hannah et al., 1995) http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1009588723665#page-1." Once development has settled in, the resources needed to upkeep average American households continues to pose threats. Refuse dumping of garbage and uncontrolled, too frequent human produced fires hurt the conservation of California Chapparal.

Although not in California, the similar Mediterranean ecosystems in Mexico also face significant challenges. These ecosystems are poorly protected with little establishment of natural reserves. Unplanned development and lack of zoning policies leave natural habitats vulnerable to human destruction. Booming population and continuous growth of the area, similar to California, puts constant pressure on the Mediterranean ecosystems in Mexico.

FUTURE PREDICTIONS & THREATS

Ceanothus chaparral in the Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland National (Chaparral) Forest

Industrialization and urbanization are the major sources that will impact the California chaparral. The expansion of infrastructure in major industrialized cities in California will effectively kill off the little flora (plants) and fauna (animals) that is still in existence.  Moreover, California is one of the leading agricultural states in the United States; if urbanization continues without consideration of sustainability, than California’s agriculture will deplete.

Sustainability is significant because it is like killing to birds with one stone. This is because sustainability ensures that there is sufficient environmental preservation. Thus, that will maintain diverse flora species. Additionally, sustainability benefits the ecosystem and preserves biodiversity.

In short, reasonable future prediction about the California chaparral will be that there will be extreme climate change in the California chaparral. Therefore, the hot and dry summer and the wet and mild winters will be tremendously impacted due to the pollution from urbanization and industrialization. Subsequently, over time this might affect plant adaptation characteristics such as the plants adaptation to fire. Notably, tourism will decrease as a result which will lead to a substantial decline in the conservation status of the California chaparral. 

                     

WHAT HUMANS CAN DO TO IMPROVE THE CHAPARRAL

Point Loma Ecological Conservation Area in San Diego

Fortunately, several conservation sites already exist under the National Park System. These protected areas aim to reintroduce native plants to the region—that were lost as a result of heavy urbanization—and to conduct scientific research to learn more about how to better preserve this shrinking ecosystem. However, humans can do more to improve the chaparral by small steps. First, humans can practice personal sustainability. Fundamentally, that means living within one's personal means. This will decrease pollution and carbon dioxide emission, which will in turn maintain the Chaparral's natural climate levels. Secondly, educating the public and establishing proper fire management techniques is sufficient. Public misconceptions of the chaparral region, including the belief that chaparral is “fire-dependent,” leads to irrational public policy that promotes the broad-scale destruction of native plants. By increasing the frequencies of fires, humans have interrupted natural growth of the chaparral region. Thus, in establishing stricter fire control plans and adequately training fire management personnel, we can help cultivate a healthier environment for chaparral to flourish. Next, humans can implement more reserves in the Chaparral to in some ways preserve the Chaparral's characteristics including thus benefiting the flora and other organisms. The more reserves, the better. Lastly, shifting the trend of suburban sprawl to more densely populated areas could benefit the California Chaparral. Suburban sprawl takes up not only natural resources, but considerable amounts of land. The infrastructure needed to maintain a suburban population is well beyond what ecosystems can handle. Highways connecting areas need to be built, numerous houses need to be spread, malls far away from their suppliers must be maintained, suburban sprawl is vastly inefficient and detrimental to the environment. Attempts to consolidate development into more concentrated, city-like areas could help lessen the impact of suburban sprawl.

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