Transcript Chaparral Biome

Chaparral Biome
Vishal Mehta
Lee 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.