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[6] [7] Desert chaparral is a regional ecosystem subset of the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, with some plant species from the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion. Unlike cismontane chaparral, which forms dense, impenetrable stands of plants, desert chaparral is often open, with only about 50 percent of the ground covered. [8]
Chaparral and oak woodlands are the most widespread plant communities in this ecoregion. The chaparral is composed of diverse shrubs and herbs. These include chamise and several species of manzanita and ceanothus. Gray pine often emerges from the shrubs.
The California coastal sage and chaparral (Spanish: Salvia y chaparral costero de California) is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, located in southwestern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California . It is part of the larger California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion.
Though adapted to infrequent fires, chaparral plant communities can be exterminated by frequent fires especially with climate change induced drought. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Today, frequent accidental ignitions can convert chaparral from a native shrubland to nonnative annual grassland and drastically reduce species diversity, especially under global ...
Coastal sage scrub in the Santa Monica Mountains.Note slope effect. Coastal sage scrub on the Santa Rosa Plateau, with oak woodland in background.. Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California.
California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coastal California ; in interior valleys of the Coast Ranges , Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges ...
The montane chaparral consists of a mosaic of sage scrub, chaparral, and montane species, depending on altitude. [9] The California interior chaparral and woodlands form a ring around the Central Valley, covering the hills around the Bay Area as well as the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. [10]
This ecoregion has two predominant ecosystems, with three primary plant communities: the California coastal sage and chaparral, with coastal sage scrub along the coast, the California montane chaparral and woodlands, with chaparral and California oak woodlands as the mountains rise and recede from the coast and descend into the interior valleys.