Ecology: Chaparral Biomes

Plants are found everywhere on earth, up high on the ridge and down low in caves and caverns. The types of plants that live in these places depends on many factors. These factors are separated into two different categories, the biotic factors and the abiotic factors. Some of the biotic factors include, predation, competition, and habitat destruction. Plants with limited competition and large amounts of resources will be in a higher abundance than plants with limited resources and higher competition rates will be confined to areas and either out competed or will be the dominant species. Certain plants adapt to these factors and thrive and others don’t do as well. Some of the abiotic factors include, sunlight, water, temperature, and wind. These

Geographic: The geography of the Southern Coastal Plains includes hot humid weather and frequent flooding. This area has scrub brush, mesquite trees, and oak trees. There is plenty of grass and mosquitoes present all year round. This region is located near the Gulf of Mexico.

The Appalachians span over a distance of 1,600 miles, ranging across 14 states, from Newfoundland in the North, to Alabama in the South. The Appalachians are the oldest chain of mountains on the North American continent. With forest, comes forest fires, some natural and some prescribed by humans. In order to reduce the calamitous damage caused by natural wildfires, the technique of prescribed fires is used. This is done by diminishing the amounts of trees, shrubs, and brush in the intended area. By doing this, new native plant growth is encouraged and it helps maintain some plant and animal species that depend on the periodic fires. With this man made force comes numerous effects on vegetation, wildlife, and the human impact.

In Brush Fires, Thomas points out that chaparral has been there since before people settled the area and, "the burning of chaparral during these winds is natural" (Thomas). She argues that the chaparral zone should take precedent over suburban development in her sixth paragraph, "All of this would be no more than the stuff of natural history... Right in the path of natural fires" (Thomas). Her stance on the matter is clear: homes being burned to the ground are not the fault of the fires, but of the moronic humans who built them in the middle of a known chaparral zone. Didion, however, does not agree.

Thomas describes scenes of “orange flames” lighting the sky and families and friends watching the fires with “soft drinks” and “camera’s”. . At the same time, Didion describes the sky as “a yellow cast, the kind of light sometimes called ‘earthquake weather’ For Thomas, the fires are more than just the burning of “chaparral” and medical problems, there are memories that are irreplaceable that only the people who experience the fires can attest to. In the news, most people will hear about everything that has been burned down along with the side effects, such as sinus infections, etc. that are caused by the fire. However, people living outside of California don’t know the experiences and memories, such as families sitting together or young couples kissing that means so much to the native Californians. In Thomas’s “Brush Fire” , she shows that people who do not experience the winds and fires don’t understand that is it more than just burning something; it is a time for people in the community to come together. Science establishes both authors’ arguments and perspectives, however, Thomas uses it to show the vital role it plays in nature, specifically for the plants germination in seed pods. Furthermore, she explains how humans, without respect for nature, get in the way of these fires. It wouldn’t be a problem for many, if land developers took into account the chaparral zones, which is the direct path

Looking upon the web journal “Why were California’s wine country fires so destructive”, author Jon Keeley takes in every factor that could have altered why the past and present wildfires have destructed the same area in California. Since late October the northern part of California has been affected by dozens of wildfires that has burned over 160,000 acres of land (Keeley). Upon researching the recent fires, Keeley noticed that Tubbs fire that occurred in Napa Valley this year, reflects many similarities to the Hanley fire that took place in 1964. Keeley looked into how the winds, population growth, climate change, and human factors have made these wildfires similar and indifferent.

Weekend conservation studies are provided as well. Expert gardeners, university students and various adults groups have increased their environmental intelligence on the ten acres of land at CEC (CEC, 2017).

The Chaparral Biome is known by various different names due to the variety of locations it is situated in around the globe. It is often referred to as the California woodland and grasslands because of it’s’ exclusivity on the Californian coasts in North America, and also known as the Mediterranean Biome due to the large areas surrounding parts of the Mediterranean Sea. The chaparrals located in California are situated in the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which span across to the Pacific Ocean, and cover up to peaks at 5,000 feet above sea level. Hence, due to its location the climate is often hot and dry in the summer, and often cold and rainy in the winter. Additionally, these abiotic factors affect the biotic adaptations of the plant species that are found within the Chaparral Biome.

Location of major natural system: In Florida, these are primarily located continuously along the Atlantic coast from the state line- south to Cape Florida, Miami-Dade County, and on the Gulf coast of the peninsula from Anclote Key, Pasco County, south to Cape Romano, and Collier County (Florida Natural Areas Inventory, n.d.a.). Furthermore, counties where beaches are discontinuous, we are able to see two additional sites in the Florida Keys, four sites on the islands west of Key West, a site in Cape Sable, and even a few on the larger islands of the Ten Thousand Islands (Florida Natural Areas Inventory, n.d.a.). Lastly, outside of Florida, these dunes are known to extend to the Alabama border, and even as far as around the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, Bahamas, and along the Atlantic coast all the way to Virginia (Florida Natural Areas Inventory, n.d.a.).

Chaparrals have different terrains. For example, they can be flat plains or rocky mountains and hills. Chaparrals are primarily found in California and North of Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Wildfires are very common since the climate is very dry and hot.

The Arroyo Seco is located in Los Angeles County, California, it has wonderful variety of native species which including plants and animals. All these species are categorized to producer, lower level consumer, upper level consumer and decomposer, such as: Producers- Arroyo Willow, Alder, Beavertail cactus, Cottonwood and other. Lowel Level Consumers- Cochineal, Mourning Dove, Scrub Jay, wood rat and etcetera. Upper level consumer- Cliff swallow, Black Widow Spider, Cooper’s Hawk and other. Decomposer- Bracket fungus, Pill bug, Toadstool and etcetera. They are the key species and community in The Arroyo Seco’s ecosystem. Accordingly, The Arroyo Seco is in a Chaparral biome which is dominated by evergreen shrubs and majority plant species in

The California Juniper (Juniperus californica) is a coniferous shrub/tree native to the Mojave Desert which prefers chaparral and woodland habitats. The expansive desert above and to the south of my house is a excellent example of this habitat. The stature of a mature specimen of this particular species of Juniper usually ranges from three to eight meters tall, and their width is often similar. The Juniper grows needle-like leaves and berry-like cones. It is a handsome desert shrub with its immense overall size and periwinkle colored berries.

The Shrublands is a vast barren and dry land containing many different type of shrubbery and desert like plants and animals. This biome is found mostly in the south western portion of the United States. Shrublands contain low nutrient soil and leaf litter is critical for nutrients to spread but is often blown away. Shrublands are very exposed to the sun which makes it hot and dry. The annual rainfall is 10-20 inches. It 's hot and dry in the summer and cool and moist in the winter. Temperatures in the summer can get up to 100 degrees fahrenheit and down to 30 degrees fahrenheit in the winter. Some plants have adapted to the shrubland environment by inheriting a waxy texture on the leafs to reflect the sunlight away. The animals have adapted because they have become more active during dawn and dusk to avoid the heat.

Has an estimated 390 billion individual trees which were separated into 16,000 species harbors 10% of the world 's known species

When the author reflects on meanings of the finds we again observe the fact that although initially there was relatable and similar fraction in the early onset of the post-fire succession inevitably over time a gradual decrease in fraction was observed. The author also notes that native-exotic correlations not only vary across communities and spatial scales but as he finds through time as well. The author revealed that in the infantile stages of the post-fire chaparral succession exotics such as short lived herbs tended to emerge first followed by native and exotic perennials, and then ultimately the dominant native species such as the previously mentioned shrubs. Guo also noted that this study yielded the findings that in the California chaparral community in which he conducted his experiment,