The chaparral of Southern California is a terrestrial ecoregion
situated on the Western coast of North America in Southern California.
It is a hot and wet-winter, dry-summer climate region. Light in
the Chaparral biome is constant and bright. The temperature range is
between 30 and 100 F, the average temperature during the cold season is
64 F. Vegetation is composed of broad-leaved evergreen shrubs, bushes,
small trees usually less than 2.5 m (about 8 feet) tall, grasses,
chamise, and manzanita. It is home to many animals. It receives about
10-17 inches of precipitation a year and most of it comes in the winter.
There is a long period of dryness in the summer. This makes the
chaparral most vulnerable to fire in the late summer and fall. It has
thin and nutrient-poor soils. The soil of the biome is typically dry and
dusty, with little nutrients. Generally, chaparral is thought to occur
in thin, porous, and rocky soils that are relatively low in nitrogen,
potassium, and phosphorous. A total of 1,177 species are found on
Southern California Chaparral.
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
There are a lot of biotic and abiotic factors in this ecosystem and
some of them include:
Abiotic
Rocks
Sand
Small Streams and Rivers
Sun Light
hot and dry summers with cool and moist winters
thin and nutrient-poor soils
periodic fires
various mountain ranges and/or hills
water
drought conditions
Biotic
Shrubs
chamise and manzanita.
Sonoma Chipmunk
Scrub-Jays
Acorn Woodpeckers
California Condor
Common Sagebrush
California Blue Oak
Red Diamond Rattlesnake
Spotted Skunk
Roadrunners
Whiptail Lizards
Pumas
Coyote
Poison oak, Yucca Wiple, toyon, chamise, trees, and cacti.
Together, biotic and abiotic factors make up an ecosystem. To survive,
biotic factors need abiotic factors. Passing the food materials and
energy are some of the major interactions between these factors. These
special relationship between the biotic and abiotic factors should
create a balance in the biome. The sun and the amount of rain are some
of the most important abiotic factors in the Southern California
Chaparral. The more sun and the limited amount of rain affect the biome
by creating conditions that are triggering fires more and more often.
Let's look at the fires, they can be natural as a result of
lightning striking in the area. However, there are times when they are
started by people being careless. Occasionally those fires may be set
intentionally too. While it can be hard to get the fires under control,
studies show they really are an essential part of controlling the
balance of living things in this particular biome. Many of the plants
found in the chaparral biome have leaves that are made from highly
flammable materials. That is why the fires are able to spread so quickly
rather than just from the dry conditions. Also, these plants have the
ability to withstand fires. They have heavy bark and deep roots so it
isn’t long after the fire that they are able to thrive again. Even
plants with seeds have become highly adaptive to chaparral biome fires.
Some of these plants only will spout after the dormant seeds have been
touched by fire. This is a great example of how the living elements of a
biome are able to fit very well with what they have to work with.
Because of the fires animals have adapted to this sparse and rough
terrain. Animals generally have to be nocturnal in order to avoid the
intense heat in the day. Abiotic factors affect the ability of organisms
to survive and reproduce. Abiotic limiting factors restrict the growth
of populations. They help determine the types and numbers of organisms
able to exist within an environment. Biotic factors are living things
that directly or indirectly affect organisms within an environment. This
includes the organisms themselves, other organisms, interactions between
living organisms, and even their waste. Other biotic factors include
parasitism, disease, and predation (the act of one animal eating
another).
Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services are outputs, conditions, or processes of natural
systems that directly or indirectly benefit humans or enhance social
welfare.
Chaparral provides physical ecosystem services that aid in flood
hazard reduction, sediment retention, and the supply of water as well
as
protecting habitat for endangered species and soil quality.
Chaparral ecosystems provide many services,
such as the stabilization of steep slopes,
Filtration of drinking water
Myriad recreational opportunities
They also beautify the landscape for many millions
of California
inhabitants and visitors
This project
In this project, I will be addressing the habitat loss issue. Many
problems destroy habitats for species to live in. Some of these problems
are:
Wildfires have been burning many habitats for animals, burning down
bid areas covered with grasses, trees, and bushes. When the fires are
extensive and often repeated animals are left with no shelter and
food, and water supplies.
Another factor is human development, urbanizing areas that are either
too close to the South California Chaparral, either is overlapping
some of it. This leads to leaving animals without shelter or food
supplies as well. Stealing these areas from their inhabitants is a big
limiting factor. Between 1970 and 1990, the size of the Los Angeles
metropolitan area increased by over 1,000 square kilometers, metro San
Diego expanded by almost 800 square kilometers.
Air pollution and water pollution can affect the health of all biotic
factors both animals and plants. Contaminating water sources could
minimize the population of different species or even kill inhabitants
in certain areas. It can also lead to soil contamination for longer
periods of time.
Climate scenarios for California, project continued warming through
the century leading to increased physiological stress, canopy
thinning, and mortality of chaparral vegetation across portions of the
state. In some instances, however, chaparral vegetation may expand
into forested landscapes. Climate change forecasts suggest enhanced
fire activity, including an extended fire season and more frequent
large fires. In this already stressed system, non-climate stressors,
like increased fire frequencies, can lead to decreased shrub biomass,
loss of species diversity, and conversion to other vegetation
types.
Most Impacted
The most impacted after the repeating fires at Southern California
Chaparral is the vegetation of the biome. Fire is a disruptive
force that can have various impacts depending on its time of arrival and the size of the areas that are burned. Vegetation is the base
of the food chain and provides food to the herbivores, the whole chain
depends on the plants and makes one of the most important parts of any
ecosystem. Plant’s community also provides shelter to almost all
of the animals that are inhabiting the Southern California Chaparral.
After the fires, the soils are exhausted and this is the reason I
believe we have to work to help the vegetation to restore. In general,
it takes about 10 years to restore it.
The Food Web
Due to the frequent fires, that are the result of human
activities the food web has been disrupted. The plant community is the
base of the food web and makes it absolutely necessary for the survival
of the whole biome. Possibly because chaparral research and fire ecology are relatively
young fields, a significant number of misconceptions about California
chaparral plant communities continue to persist. The most common deal
with fire includes assumptions such as “chaparral needs to burn to
remain healthy” and “chaparral is adapted to fire,”
both of which incorrectly imply that without frequent fire, chaparral
will disappear. In fact, extended fire-free periods are required
for the seeds of many chaparral plants to germinate successfully, for
specialized lichen colonies to form, and for old-growth stands to create
the type of habitat that would have been favored by the grizzly
bear.
Description of the solution
I created a seed shaker that could be used to plant new plants which
are typical for the Chaparral. It could allow the seeds to be spread
evenly and will support the plant restoration. It looks like a salt
saker but for seeds. My idea is based on mixing the seeds by shaking
them, and to be easier to be carried, the seed shaker should be small
and compact. Seeds should be dispersed through the halls on the bottom
of the shaker.
Why my product will help?
The solution I choose is based on the research I did. Fires are playing
a significant impact on South California Chaparral. I think that
if we could restore the plants that live in the biome, the health of the
ecosystem will be much stable and stronger. The seed shaker could
be carried even by children. If young kids could be involved and
included in the process of restoration, this could create a healthier
environment.
