Chaparral
ChaparralThe chaparral is a major ecosystem and vegetation type composed of woody shrubs that form a dense thicket about 3 to 13 ft high. The species that live in the chaparral are adapted to very dry summers and mild rainy winters. The plants grow in extensive, but discontinuous stands on hillsides and mountain slopes from south-central Oregon southward through the coast ranges of California and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The chaparral is at its fullest in development at southern California and northern parts of Baja California, Mexico. It is also found in northwestern Arizona. In California alone, the chaparral occupies about 8.4 million acres. That is over eight percent of the state. The chaparral isn't really used for commercial puroses, but is the major watershed and erosion protection in mountainous areas.
The chaparral is composed of several hundred species of plants, most of which are evergreen shrubs belonging to many plant families such as the rose, oak, heath, buckthorn, and sumac. Common shrubs of the chaparral are chamise, scrub oak, mountain lilac, manzanita, and sumac. The plants have evolved to withstand long, dry summers and strong autumn Santa Ana winds that create frequent fires. The leaves...
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