Chaparral

Fire is Natural in our  Climate

We  live in what is called a ''Mediterranean'' climate. This means that the summers are warm and dry, while winters are cool and wet. As a result of this, the end of summer and beginning of fall is a natural fires season. This is true in all locations that have this type of climate, including California. There are 5 places worldwide with our type of climate

In order to fully understand what is happening with fire, we need to learn more about the ecosystems of California. We will begin this week by learning about California ecosystems that are common  here in Sonoma County; chaparral and North coast Forests (this includes mixed evergreen forest and redwood forests).  

Since fire is natural to these ecosystems, some background knowledge of these ecosystems will be helpful as we move through this week's content.

Study Guide Questions

As you read the material and watch the videos below, focus on these study guide questions:

1.  Be able to describe the basic biology of chaparral, redwood forest and mixed evergreen forest.

• • • What types of plants live in these ecosystems?
    • Where are these ecosystems found in California?
    • What are the important interactions between species in these ecosystems? 
    • What adaptations do plants have to survive and reproduce in these ecosystems? To drought?  To fire? 
    • What is mineral soil? Why is it helpful for new seedlings after a fire? 

Chaparral

Chaparral is a shrub-dominated community found only in California.  Chaparral contains diverse shrubs with hard, evergreen leaves.  These leaves make these plants well-suited to the hot, dry, gravelly or rocky places in which chaparral is found.  These gravelly or rocky soils don't hold water well, so even if precipitation is abundant, that water drains away quickly, making it unavailable to the plants living there.

Watch this 5-minute Ecosystems of California video on chaparral from Dr. Erika Zavaleta:

Here is the video without questions, but you need to open the video with embedded questions.