By Sarah Rosenberger 
and 
Alex Lopez

Location of Chaparrals

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/images/biomes_map_big_jpg_image.html
This world map shows the eight different biomes of the world. The chaparral is indicated in brown. It is located near the Mediterranean Sea, along the southern coast of Australia and in California. 

http://www.californiachaparral.com/factsandmyths/wheretofindchaparral.html
We are focusing on California chaparral, which is shown in the blue. The chaparral in California extends from the Santa Lucia Mountains of the central California coast and the Transverse Range through southern California.  The chaparral covers 5% of California, almost 8,000 square miles and altitudes from sea level to 11,500 feet. (Bersbech 1)

http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/angeles/about-forest
This blog focuses on the Angeles National Forest, specifically Eaton Canyon in Pasadena, CA.

History of Chaparrals

An oil canvas painting of Eaton Canyon in 1920.

http://www.edenhurstgallery.com/library/newdetails/366-brown-stream-from-eaton-cyna.jpg

Modern day photo of Eaton Canyon.
We took a trip to Eaton Canyon in 2012 and noticed a drastic change in the scenery from the painting in 1920.

The chaparral is known to be “California’s most extensive, native plant community” (California Chaparral Institute, par. 1). The temperature is usually hot and dry during the summers and rainy and mild in the winters.  It only receives 12-40 inches of rain per year. The hot summers usually cause fires, which the plants and animals of the chaparral have adapted to. The chaparral has a lot of Oak, Pine and Mahogany trees, such as the Blue Oak. It also has a lot of shrubs, such as the Narrow Leaf Golden Brush. Due to its hot and dry climate, most of the plants are fire-adapted and actually need fire to regenerate.  Their waxy, leathery, thick leaves have adapted to the climate and store water in order to survive with as little water possible.  (Sophia W.)

Succulents that store water

Oak Tree native to the Chaparral

One can feel the waxy texture of the leaves

The animals also have adapted to fires and the hot summers.  They have learned how to obtain water, and conserve it. Some animals in the chaparral are invertebrates, birds, reptiles, and mammals such as Bewick's wren, California quail, California striped racer snake, northern red diamond rattle snake, orange-throated whiptail lizard, pocket mouse, deer mouse, kangaroo rats, chipmunk, rabbit, fox, deer, golden jackal, coyote, and mountain lion. (Sophia W.)

Bewick's Wren

http://www.roysephotos.com/BewicksWren.html

California Striped Racer Snake

http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/m.l.lateralis.html

Orange-throated Whiptail Lizard

http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/a.h.beldingi.html

Golden Jackal

http://bhavanajagat.com/tag/negri-bodies/

Human Relationship with Chaparrals

Benefits
The chaparral provides humans with many resources, such as timber, an ideal location to live due to its climate and different plants, such as the Larrea Tridentata, also known as the chaparral herb. 

http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/1384/larrea-tridentata-creosote-bush/

Larrea Tridentata, also known as the chaparral herb, can be found in chaparral regions, and is a Native American remedy for "arthritis, colds, rheumatism, skin sores and wounds, urinary infections, tuberculosis" (All 4 Natural Health).

http://www.pollenlibrary.com/Specie/Larrea+tridentata/library_images/species_maps/Larrea-tridentata.png

It can be found in the lime green regions. 

Human Impacts

Humans have impacted chaparrals in a negative way.  Unfortunately, due to human impact and urbanization, only 30% of chaparral remains intact. This is due to nearby developing cities and neighborhoods.  For example, in Eaton Canyon houses can be seen in the mountains surrounding the chaparral.  These residents suppress fires in the chaparral, which disturbs the natural process of the plants because it does not allow them to regenerate.  This creates debris build up, leading to forest fires. (Bersbech 4)

 

Another human impact hurting chaparrals is air pollution.  Air pollution is the most serious pollution for chaparral because it harms the pine trees such as the Ponderosa Pine and the Jeffrey pine. Also, humans have cut down trees for fire wood, which disturbs the birds and animals' habitat. (Bersbech 12)

Lastly, construction of roads and oil drilling causes fragmentation which isolates habitats.  Large predators have rapidly declined in numbers due to hunting, which allows larger populations of deer and other herbivores to over graze.  Also, humans have brought plants that are not native to these areas, and because people want to live near water or participate in water activities, humans have disrupted aquatic habitats. (Olson)

Protected Areas

·      Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA

·      Cabrillo National Monument

·      Channel Islands National Park

·      McGinty Mountain Preserve Nature Conservancy-Preserve

·      San Dimas Biosphere Reserve

·      Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

The conservation status of these areas is vulnerable.

Future of Chaparrals
Humans build homes in and near the chaparrals.  Because of this, the community makes an effort to suppress fires, but fires are an important part of the biome.  This allows brush and highly flammable material to build up so when a fire does occur it becomes massive like the Angeles Nation Forest station fire.  People will not stop suppressing these fires as long as their homes would be in danger.  Therefore, we predict an increasing number of forest fires.  (Fitzmorris)

We also predict continued fragmentation, because Americans prioritize economics over most else.  Therefore, continued construction will occur in chaparrals meaning more degradation to the land and greater separation of habitats due to additional roads. (Fitzmorris)


How to Maintain Balance Between Humans and Chaparrals

First, humans should not continue building homes in the high regions of chaparrals.  This only adds to the incentive to suppress fires and fragmentation due to roads. Also, controlled fires should be put into effect on a regular pattern in order to prevent brush build up and provide the biome one of its most important aspects.  Finally, hunting should not be permitted and ideally predators can re-inhabit the land allowing them to feed on herbivores and decrease the amount of grazing occurring. 




Assessment of Current Impacts on Chaparrals

	Soil	Plant Life	Rivers
Urbanization	Soil erosion	Removes vegetation/increases foreign plants	Causes sedimentation
Fire Suppression	Prevents ash from enriching soil	Stops regeneration and decreases nutrients	Lack of flow of nutrients to stream
Oil Drilling	Contamination of soil/soil erosion	Introduces invasive weeds/reduction of plant diversity	Erosion and runoff to streams impacting fish

Works Cited

All 4 Natural Health. Ed. Anonymous. All 4 Natural Health, 2007. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.

<http://www.all4naturalhealth.com/chaparral-herb.html>.

Bersbech, Chris. "World Wildlife Fund Ecoregion NA 1203 – California montane

chaparral and woodlands." Colby. Ed. Anonymous. Colby College, 30 Apr. 2003.

Wikipedia. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. <http://www.colby.edu/biology/BI131/Lab/Ecoregion%20Sample%202%20Chris%20Bersbach.pdf>.

California Chaparral Institute. Chaparral Facts. Ed. Anonymous. California Chaparral

Institute, 1 Dec. 2012. Google. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.

<http://www.californiachaparral.com/chaparralfacts.html>.

Fitzmorris, Patricia K. "Wildfire Management in Los Angeles' Wildland-Urban Interface:

Identifying Better Strategies for Reconciling Wildfires with LA's Communities." .

Ed. Anonymous. Occidental College, May 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.

<http://www.occidental.edu/sites/default/files/assets/UEP/Comps/2010/Fitzmorris_Wildfire%20Management.pdf>.

Olson, David. World Wildlife. Ed. Robin Cox. The Nature Conservancy, n.d. Web. 2 Dec.

2012. <http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na1203>.

W, Sophia. Caliornia Chaparral. Ed. Anonymous. N.p., 2002. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.

<http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/calif_chaparral.htm>.