Vishal MehtaLee Ringer

Justin Seager

Nicknamed the Mediterranean Biome.

Found a little bit on every continent, but primarily in California.

Used in Wild West movies.

The Chaparral is located all over the world. It is on the west coast of the United States, the west coast of South America, near Cape Town in South Africa, western side of Australia, and coastal areas of Mediterranean.

“Chaparral” is a Spanish word that comes from “chaparro,” which means evergreen oak.

Some of the plant life contains poison oak, scrub oak, Yucca Wiple, trees and cacti.

The animal life had to adapt to the warm and hot conditions. These animals are coyotes, jack rabbits, mule deer, alligator lizards, horned toads, praying mantis, honey bee and ladybugs.

The Chaparral, during the winter, is mild and moist, but not rainy.

During the summer it is hot and dry at 40 °C, so fires and droughts are very common. 

Over the duration of the year, the Chaparral gets about 10-17 inches of rain. 

Chaparrals are located in prevailing westerly winds.  This is why Chaparrals are located on western sides of countries. 

Chaparrals can be found from 30° to 50° N and 30° to 40° S latitudes.

Biomass is the amount of living matter in a given habitat, expressed either as the weight of organisms per unit area or as the volume of organisms per unit volume of habitat.  

Productivity is producing readily or abundantly, or fertile.  

The productivity of the Chaparral biome is low due to how hot and dry the area is. 

The soil quality of this biome is very poor in nutrients, so it ranks very low in productivity.

The chief threat to the Chaparral biome is human development. 

 Many people wish to live in a warm climate situated near the coast. 

Los Angeles and San Francisco are examples of expansion in these biomes. 

Another threat to the Chaparral biome are fires. 

Due to the dryness of the air and flammability of the plants, it is easy for fires to start naturally or by humans.  

Related to hyenas, but have different characteristics and adaptations.

They have non-retractable claws to dig in the dirt for termites, which are abundant in this biome.

Their weak, widely spaced, and rounded teeth help them chew the small insects.

Their acute sense of smell and hearing help them find termites that reside underground.

Has a long, sticky tongue, which is useful in lapping up termites in large amounts.

When under attack, they emit a musky fluid from their anal glands, much like a skunk.

The dry, hot conditions of the Chaparral have caused many adaptations on this plant species.

Can survive temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for weeks at a time.

Go dormant in extremely dry and hot years by shedding leaves.

Leaves have waxy coating to help conserve water.

Extensive root system helps to survive in harsh and arid conditions.

Thick, light-colored bark reduces fire damage.