Chaparral is a shrub dominated association of plants. Hot dry summers and cool wet winters of the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of California supply this fire adapted bioregion with the means necessary to be a highly successful habitat along the rockier slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Several types of chaparral can be described within the regions boundaries.

Coastal Chaparral
Chamise found along the Tule River drainage below Camp Nelson and along Mountain 99 between McNally's and Chamise Flat.

Manzanita found along the eastern slopes of the greenhorn mountains.

Scrub oak

Vegetation

California chaparral. The obvious dominant here is chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), the archtypical species of this widespread and variable cover type, along with common manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita) and other sclerophyllus species including shrubs of live oak species especially interior live oak. California chaparral and parts of adjoining woodlands and forests have often been labeled the “broad sclerophyll” based on sclerophyllous leaf features described by Shelford (1964, p. 238) as “thick, coreaceous, highly cutinized, and shiny” with relatively few compound or lobed leaves. Hopland Field Station, Mendocino County. June. FRES No. 34 (Chaparral-Mountain Shrub Ecosystem). K-29 (Chaparral). SRM 206 (Chamise Chaparral). Chamise Series of Brown et al. (1998).

What grows here

California chaparral- This is primarily a scrub oak type or form with scrub interior live oak (Quercus wislizenii var. frutescens) the predominate chaparral species, but there are smaller patches of other types or subforms including the chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) form. Others species visible include poison oak (Rhus diversiloba= Toxicodendron diversilobum), California buckeye (Aesclus californica), blue elderberry (Sambucus coerulea= S. glauca), toyon or Christmas berry or California holly ( Photinia arbutifolia), coyotebrush or chaparral broom (Baccharis pilularis), and California scrub oak (Quercus dumosa). Understory comprised primarily of naturalized Mediterranean grasses with wild oats the dominant species (note Avena panicle in foreground). California Coast Range, the easternmost (adjacent to Sacramento Valley) line of hills. Napa County, California. June. FRES No. 34 (Chaparral-Mountain Shrub Ecosystem), K-29 (Chaparral), SRM 207 (Scrub Oak Mixed Chaparral), California Native Plant Society Interior Live Oak Shrub Series (Mixed Chaparral). Scrub-Oak Series of Brown et al. (1998).

Chaparral is also loosely called brushland, or brush.

The only consistent pattern is: Chaparral usually does not occur on good soil.

The variable being soil depth, these three close plant communities transition: from Grassland (the shallowest soil), to Chaparral (intermediate in soil depth) to Oak Woodland (the deepest soil, deep enough to support trees, often over 4 feet in depth).

Chaparral occurs in areas of occasionally freezing winters (to -5F(-20C)), but usually mild, moist winters and dry, hot summers (commonly above 100F (38C).

There is almost no erosion in clean Chaparral; there are large mud slides in areas of Chaparral that have been converted to grass. Chaparral slope is very hard to burn (try back firing it!); erosion is very low and and the Chaparral can survive in extreme drought.
What are characteristics of chaparral shrubs?

Sclerophyllous (hard-leaved) plants commonly form the foundation of this plant community. They have small, hard leaves, that roll up, under, or fall off during the normal summer drought. Then there are the many evergreen bushes with extensive root systems that hold on to their leaves for dear life. These plants consistently draw more moisture from the ground than comes down in rain. There is no measurable runoff in a chaparral plant community.

What elevation is chaparral found in?

Elevation is not a great predictor for Chaparral.

1. Fire is a major factor in the dynamics of this Chaparral plant community, and plants are adapted to fire, ie. crown -sprouting shrubs, and annual fire- followers.

WEEDS AND HUMAN CARELESSNESS HAVE CHANGED the FIRE FREQUENCY!!! Normal fire frequency should be about 100-400 years, depending on the Chaparral type and location. The presence of weeds, and human carelessness has increased the fire frequency to as little as six months. Many of the native plants that live in Chaparral require years to develop the right conditions for their seeds to germinate. Weed seeds can germinate and set seed in as little as a few months. Once certain cascading events are set into motion, namely frequent fires, in addition to the presence of weeds, in a Chaparral plant community, you have a recipe for plant community degradation and destruction. Suppress fire in the Chaparral plant community for as long as you possibly can and remove the weeds, and you might keep the Chaparral plant community intact.

2. This plant community is highly adapted to very long dry spells, but unlike desert plant communities, areas of Chaparral can have very wet winters, also. 30-40 inches of rainfall in two months is common and no rain for 1-2 years has also been documented.

California Chaparral

This plant community exists in many areas of the coast ranges and on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is also found on the western and eastern slopes of the southern California mountains. It is 'hard' brush that doesn't rely as much on summer fog drip that the 'soft' Coastal Sage Scrub does, and it is adapted to heat and drought. If you know where the fog belt is for an area, the rainfall, the soil type, and what the summer temperatures are, it is pretty easy to guesstimate where Chaparral should be. Precipitation of 30-90 cm, or less and you'll have either Shadscale Scrub, Joshua Tree Woodland, (in hotter areas) or Pinyon-Juniper Woodland (in colder areas). Higher amounts of rainfall make for Mixed Evergreen Forest or Yellow Pine Forest, and coastal fog and cooler summer days means Coastal Sage Scrub (soft brush). If Chaparral isn't where it should be, it was probably cleared. The more accessible areas have been cleared by the mile. Fortunately, Chaparral still occurs in large areas that were hard to reach by tractor.

The Chaparral (brushland) is usually a successional plant community that gradually moves to oak and pine forest, if the soil depth supports it, even if the amount of rain falling from the sky does not change. Pretty cool, huh? Over time, just the presence of the Chaparral can change the pH one unit, can effectively double the precipitation, and can produce a litter layer (mulch layer of leaves) in which the pines and oaks can germinate. That is, if it doesn't burn for decades or, maybe centuries, no one really knows the time line.

Chaparral plant community 'creates' moisture. There is almost no runoff from chaparral sites, and the soil only becomes dry on 'real' drought years. Most of the time soil moisture ranges from moist (not wet) to slightly dry. This is a great growing bed for the oaks, pines and trees of higher rainfall areas. The higher the brush gets, the more blowing fog or clouds are caught, and the more fog is created from this catch.

Benefits

productivity, filtering, etc...

Wildlife

what lives here.