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Conservation Issues: California Chaparral
Author's personal copy Conservation Issues: California Chaparral RW Halsey, California Chaparral Institute, Escondido, CA, United States JE Keeley, U.S. Geological Survey, Three Rivers, CA, United States ã 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. What Is Chaparral? 1 California Chaparral Biodiversity 1 Chaparral Community Types 1 Measuring Chaparral Biodiversity 4 Diversity Within Individual Plant Taxa 5 Faunal Diversity 5 Influence of Geology 7 Influence of Climate 7 Influence of Fire 8 Impact of Climate Change 10 Preserving Chaparral Biodiversity 10 References 10 What Is Chaparral? Chaparral is a diverse, sclerophyllous shrub-dominated plant community shaped by a Mediterranean-type climate (hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters), a complex mixture of relatively young soils (Specht and Moll, 1983), and large, infrequent, high-intensity fires (30–150 year fire return interval) (Keeley and Zedler, 2009; Keeley et al., 2004; Lombardo et al., 2009). Large expanses of dense chaparral vegetation cover coastal mesas, canyons, foothills, and mountain slopes throughout the California Floristic Province (Figure 1), southward into Baja California, and extending north into the Rogue River Valley of southwest Oregon. Disjunct patches of chaparral can also be found in central and southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico (Keeley, 2000). Along with the four other Mediterranean-type climate regions of the world with similar shrubland vegetation (Central Chile, Mediterranean Basin, South Africa, and southwestern Australia) (Table 1), California has been designated a biodiversity hot spot (Myers et al., 2000). Twenty-five designated locations in all, these hot spots have exceptional concentrations of endemic species that are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat (Myers et al., 2000; Rundel, 2004). -
Woodlands of the Savanna Lands No
Tropical Topics An interpretive newsletter for the tourism industry Woodlands of the savanna lands No. 71 December 2001 Conserving moisture Notes from the Life is tough for plants living in the seasonally dry tropics. Soils arepoorandforhalftheyearthelandisparchedandproneto Editor fireswhilefortheotherhalfitisinundatedwithwater.Only Millions of years ago, much of the plantswhichhavebeenabletoadapttothispunishingregime Australian continent was covered cangrowhere,havingdevelopedcertaincharacteristicsto with rainforest. However, as the makethispossible. climate changed and the continent became more arid, a new type of While trees in the rainforest tend to It seems that these vegetation evolved consisting of have spreading surface roots to make trees are simply using plants which adapted themselves the most of nutrients available on the different survival to the new harsh conditions – forest floor, those in savanna lands strategies. It is as if they notably eucalypts, acacias, generally have deep root systems, to make the choice between melaleucas, grevilleas and reach deep reserves of water. Some investing energy into producing a banksias. trees concentrate their resources in the strong, long-lasting product or early stages of growth on developing numerous poor-quality disposable These types of trees now occupy a deep and massive tap root. ones. Studies have shown that the much of the savanna lands. This ‘construction costs’ to a tree for Tropical Topics cannot, of course, Once obtained, water must be used production of deciduous leaves are describe them all but looks at economically. The thick bark on many lower than the costs of producing strategies for living in an tropical woodland trees, apart from evergreen leaves. inhospitable environment, giving protection from fire, can help to characteristics of the main groups conserve moisture. -
The Chaparral Vegetation in Mexico Under Nonmediterranean Climate: the Convergence and Madrean-Tethyan Hypotheses Reconsidered1
American Journal of Botany 85(10): 1398±1408. 1998. THE CHAPARRAL VEGETATION IN MEXICO UNDER NONMEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE: THE CONVERGENCE AND MADREAN-TETHYAN HYPOTHESES RECONSIDERED1 ALFONSO VALIENTE-BANUET,2,4 NOEÂ FLORES-HERNAÂ NDEZ,2 MIGUEL VERDUÂ ,3 AND PATRICIA DAÂ VILA3 2Instituto de EcologõÂa, Universidad Nacional AutoÂnoma de MeÂxico, Apartado Postal 70±275, UNAM, 04510 MeÂxico, D.F.; and 3UBIPRO, ENEP-Iztacala, Universidad Nacional AutoÂnoma de MeÂxico, Apartado Postal 314, MeÂxico, 54090, Tlalnepantla, MeÂxico A comparative study between an unburned evergreen sclerophyllous vegetation located in south-central Mexico under a wet-summer climate, with mediterranean regions was conducted in order to re-analyze vegetation and plant characters claimed to converge under mediterranean climates. The comparison considered ¯oristic composition, plant-community struc- ture, and plant characters as adaptations to mediterranean climates and analyzed them by means of a correspondence analysis, considering a tropical spiny shrubland as the external group. We made a species register of the number of species that resprouted after a ®re occurred in 1995 and a distribution map of the evergreen sclerophyllous vegetation in Mexico (mexical) under nonmediterranean climates. The TehuacaÂn mexical does not differ from the evergreen sclerophyllous areas of Chile, California, Australia, and the Mediterranean Basin, according to a correspondence analysis, which ordinated the TehuacaÂn mexical closer to the mediter- ranean areas than to the external group. All the vegetation and ¯oristic characteristics of the mexical, as well as its distribution along the rain-shadowed mountain parts of Mexico, support its origin in the Madrean-Tethyan hypothesis of Axelrod. Therefore, these results allow to expand the convergence paradigm of the chaparral under an integrative view, in which a general trend to aridity might explain ¯oristic and adaptive patterns detected in these environments. -
Season of Burn Effects in Southern California Chaparral
Paper presented at 2nd Interface Between Ecology and Land Development in California conference, 18-19 April 1997, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA; Jon E. Keeley, coordinator. Season of Burn Effects in Southern California Chaparral Jan L. Beyers and Carla D. Wakeman Pacific Southwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Riverside, CA 92507 Tel. (909) 680-1527; Fax (909) 680-1501 E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. Prescribed burning for fuel reduction is most safely implemented during the wet season or early summer in southern California chaparral. Previous studies suggest that wet season burns result in poor germination of fire-dependent species and that growing season burns may reduce sprouting vigor of shrubs. We examined vegetation recovery after March, June, and November prescribed fires at different sites, and after spring and fall wildfires in a single area. At all sites, good germination of obligate-seeding Ceanothus was observed, and herbaceous species with both heat- and charate-stimulated germination were found. Shrub sprouting percentage tended to be lower after the late spring burn than the fall burns. Fire intensity and postfire weather patterns may also affect chaparral regeneration response. Keywords: Adenostoma fasciculatum, Ceanothus, chamise, fire effects, fire-followers, fire intensity, prescribed fire Introduction Chaparral is the fire-prone, shrub-dominated vegetation type abundant in the foothills adjacent to many southern California cities. Shrubs are typically 1 to 4 m (3 to 12 ft) tall with evergreen, sclerophyllous leaves (Cooper 1922, Keeley and Keeley 1988). California’s Mediterranean-type climate is characterized by mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers (Barbour and Major 1988). -
The Three Mediterranean Climates
Middle States Geographer, 2005, 38:52-60 THREE CONFLATED DEFINITIONS OF MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATES Mark A. Blumler Department of Geography SUNY Binghamton Binghamton, NY 13902-6000 ABSTRACT: "Mediterranean climate" has in effect three different definitions: 1) climate of the Mediterranean Sea and bordering land areas; 2) climate that favors broad-leaved, evergreen, sclerophyllous shrubs and trees; 3) winter-wet, summer-dry climate. These three definitions frequently are conflated, giving rise to considerable confusion and misstatement in the literature on biomes, vegetation-environment relationships, and climate change. Portions of the Mediterranean region do not have winter-wet, summer-dry climate, while parts that do, may not have evergreen sclerophylls. Places away from the Mediterranean Sea, such as the Zagros foothills, have more mediterranean climate than anywhere around the Sea under the third definition. Broad-leaved evergreen sclerophylls dominate some regions with non-mediterranean climates, typically with summer precipitation maximum as well as winter rain, and short droughts in spring and fall. Thus, such plants may be said to characteristize subtropical semi-arid regions. On the other hand, where summer drought is most severe, i.e., the most mediterranean climate under definition 3, broad-leaved evergreen sclerophylls are rare to absent. Rather than correlating with sclerophyll dominance, regions of extreme winter-wet, summer-dry climate characteristically support a predominance of annuals, the life form best adapted to seasonal rainfall regimes. Given the importance of useful forecasting of vegetation and climate change under greenhouse warming, it is imperative that biome maps begin to reflect the complexities of vegetation-climate relationships. INTRODUCTION literature also is replete with inaccurate statements about mediterranean regions. -
A Multi-Scale, Multi- Proxy Assessment of the Resilience of Cool Temperate Rainforest to Fire in Victoria’S Central Highlands
18 Fire on the mountain: A multi-scale, multi- proxy assessment of the resilience of cool temperate rainforest to fire in Victoria’s Central Highlands Patrick J. Baker School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria [email protected] Rohan Simkin Monash University, Clayton, Victoria Nina Pappas Monash University, Clayton, Victoria Alex McLeod Monash University, Clayton, Victoria Merna McKenzie Monash University, Clayton, Victoria Introduction A common feature of many Australian landscapes is the interdigitation of eucalypt- dominated sclerophyll forest with rainforest. In most instances, the eucalypt forests dominate the landscape, with rainforest restricted to relatively small fragments and strips that are often (but not always) associated with topographic features such as riparian zones or southeastern- facing slopes. However, these patterns reflect the current state of a dynamic system. Over several terra australis 34 376 Patrick J. Baker et al. hundreds of thousands of years, the relative dominance of the rainforests and eucalypt forests has waxed and waned across these landscapes in near synchrony (Kershaw et al. 2002; Sniderman et al. 2009). During periods of relatively warm, dry conditions, the eucalypt- dominated vegetation has expanded and the rainforest contracted across the landscape. When the climate has been relatively cool and moist, the rainforests have expanded and the eucalypt forest contracted. This is, in part, thought to be a direct consequence of the ambient environmental conditions and their impact on regeneration success. However, the indirect influence of climate, in particular as a driver of fire regimes, may be as important, if not more important, in defining the structure, composition and relative abundance of rainforest and eucalypt taxa at the landscape scale. -
Classification and Description of World Formation Types
United States Department of Agriculture Classification and Description of World Formation Types Don Faber-Langendoen, Todd Keeler-Wolf, Del Meidinger, Carmen Josse, Alan Weakley, David Tart, Gonzalo Navarro, Bruce Hoagland, Serguei Ponomarenko, Gene Fults, Eileen Helmer Forest Rocky Mountain General Technical Service Research Station Report RMRS-GTR-346 August 2016 Faber-Langendoen, D.; Keeler-Wolf, T.; Meidinger, D.; Josse, C.; Weakley, A.; Tart, D.; Navarro, G.; Hoagland, B.; Ponomarenko, S.; Fults, G.; Helmer, E. 2016. Classification and description of world formation types. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-346. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 222 p. Abstract An ecological vegetation classification approach has been developed in which a combi- nation of vegetation attributes (physiognomy, structure, and floristics) and their response to ecological and biogeographic factors are used as the basis for classifying vegetation types. This approach can help support international, national, and subnational classifica- tion efforts. The classification structure was largely developed by the Hierarchy Revisions Working Group (HRWG), which contained members from across the Americas. The HRWG was authorized by the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) to devel- op a revised global vegetation classification to replace the earlier versions of the structure that guided the U.S. National Vegetation Classification and International Vegetation Classification, which formerly relied on the UNESCO (1973) global classification (see FGDC 1997; Grossman and others 1998). This document summarizes the develop- ment of the upper formation levels. We first describe the history of the Hierarchy Revisions Working Group and discuss the three main parameters that guide the clas- sification—it focuses on vegetated parts of the globe, on existing vegetation, and includes (but distinguishes) both cultural and natural vegetation for which parallel hierarchies are provided. -
Eucalypt Open Forest
NVIS Fact sheet MVG 3 – Eucalypt open forest Australia’s native vegetation is a rich and fundamental Overview element of our natural heritage. It binds and nourishes our ancient soils; shelters and sustains wildlife, protects Typically, vegetation areas classified under streams, wetlands, estuaries, and coastlines; and absorbs MVG 3 – Eucalypt open forest: carbon dioxide while emitting oxygen. The National • correspond well with ‘dry sclerophyll forests’, but may Vegetation Information System (NVIS) has been developed include some wet sclerophyll forests (mostly classified and maintained by all Australian governments to provide within MVG 2) that do not exceed 30 m in height a national picture that captures and explains the broad • are distributed widely in monsoonal, tropical, diversity of our native vegetation. subtropical and temperate latitudes on soils of low to This is part of a series of fact sheets which the Australian moderate fertility Government developed based on NVIS Version 4.2 data to • dominant trees vary from 10 to 30 m tall and with provide detailed descriptions of the major vegetation groups crown cover 50 – 80 per cent (foliage projective cover of (MVGs) and other MVG types. The series is comprised of 30 – 70 per cent) depending on soil characteristics, local a fact sheet for each of the 25 MVGs to inform their use by moisture and rainfall planners and policy makers. An additional eight MVGs are • are dominated by a variety of eucalypts from the available outlining other MVG types. genera Corymbia, Angophora and Eucalyptus subgenus Eucalyptus, occasionally with Eucalyptus species from For more information on these fact sheets, including other subgenera, notably Symphyomyrtus its limitations and caveats related to its use, please see: ‘Introduction to the Major Vegetation Group • comprise understoreys typically dominated by shrubs, (MVG) fact sheets’. -
A Spatial Analysis Approach to the Global Delineation of Dryland Areas of Relevance to the CBD Programme of Work on Dry and Subhumid Lands
A spatial analysis approach to the global delineation of dryland areas of relevance to the CBD Programme of Work on Dry and Subhumid Lands Prepared by Levke Sörensen at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre Cambridge, UK January 2007 This report was prepared at the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). The lead author is Levke Sörensen, scholar of the Carlo Schmid Programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Acknowledgements This report benefited from major support from Peter Herkenrath, Lera Miles and Corinna Ravilious. UNEP-WCMC is also grateful for the contributions of and discussions with Jaime Webbe, Programme Officer, Dry and Subhumid Lands, at the CBD Secretariat. Disclaimer The contents of the map presented here do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNEP-WCMC or contributory organizations. The designations employed and the presentations do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP-WCMC or contributory organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area or its authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 3 Table of contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................3 Disclaimer ...........................................................................................................3 List of tables, annexes and maps .....................................................................5 Abbreviations -
Fossil Evidence for a Hyperdiverse Sclerophyll Flora Under a Non
Fossil evidence for a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora under a non–Mediterranean-type climate J. M. Kale Snidermana,1, Gregory J. Jordanb, and Richard M. Cowlingc aSchool of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; bSchool of Plant Science, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia; and cBotany Department, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa Edited by Taylor Feild, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, and accepted by the Editorial Board January 4, 2013 (received for review October 1, 2012) The spectacular diversity of sclerophyll plants in the Cape Floristic richness of SWFR cannot be explained by high topographic het- Region in South Africa and Australia’s Southwest Floristic Region erogeneity, because this region has a very flat, low-elevation has been attributed to either explosive radiation on infertile soils landscape (1). Furthermore, CFR, although more mountainous under fire-prone, summer-dry climates or sustained accretion of than SWFR, is more elevationally uniform than the remaining species under inferred stable climate regimes. However, the very three Mediterranean climate regions (1). Instead, authors have poor fossil record of these regions has made these ideas difficult invoked soil infertility (5, 8), unusual climate stability at a range of to test. Here, we reconstruct ecological-scale plant species richness temporal scales (9–11), contemporary landscape and edaphic di- from an exceptionally well-preserved fossil flora. We show that versity (8), Cenozoic landscape dynamics (6), or fire (10). How- a hyperdiverse sclerophyll flora existed under high-rainfall, summer- ever, many of the contemporary features used to explain the wet climates in the Early Pleistocene in southeastern Australia. -
The Vegetation Communities Dry Eucalypt Forest and Woodland
Edition 2 From Forest to Fjaeldmark The Vegetation Communities Dry eucalypt forest and woodland Eucalyptus amygdalina Edition 2 From Forest to Fjaeldmark 1 Dry eucalypt forest and woodland Community (Code) Page Eucalyptus amygdalina coastal forest and woodland (DAC) 11 Eucalyptus amygdalina forest and woodland on dolerite (DAD) 13 Eucalyptus amygdalina forest and woodland on sandstone (DAS) 15 Eucalyptus amygdalina forest on mudstone (DAM) 17 Eucalyptus amygdalina inland forest and woodland on Cainozoic deposits (DAZ) 19 Eucalyptus amygdalina–Eucalyptus obliqua damp sclerophyll forest (DSC) 22 Eucalyptus barberi forest and woodland (DBA) 24 Eucalyptus coccifera forest and woodland (DCO) 25 Eucalyptus cordata forest (DCR) 27 Eucalyptus dalrympleana–Eucalyptus pauciflora forest and woodland (DDP) 29 Eucalyptus delegatensis dry forest and woodland (DDE) 31 Eucalyptus globulus dry forest and woodland (DGL) 33 Eucalyptus gunnii woodland (DGW) 35 Eucalyptus morrisbyi forest and woodland (DMO) 37 Eucalyptus nitida dry forest and woodland (DNI) 39 Eucalyptus nitida Furneaux forest (DNF) 41 Eucalyptus obliqua dry forest (DOB) 43 Eucalyptus ovata forest and woodland (DOV) 45 Eucalyptus ovata heathy woodland (DOW) 48 Eucalyptus pauciflora forest and woodland not on dolerite (DPO) 50 Eucalyptus pauciflora forest and woodland on dolerite (DPD) 52 Eucalyptus perriniana forest and woodland (DPE) 54 Eucalyptus pulchella forest and woodland (DPU) 56 Eucalyptus risdonii forest and woodland (DRI) 58 Eucalyptus rodwayi forest and woodland (DRO) 60 Eucalyptus -
IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology 2.0 Descriptive Profiles for Biomes and Ecosystem Functional Groups
IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology 2.0 Descriptive profiles for biomes and ecosystem functional groups David A. Keith, Jose R. Ferrer-Paris, Emily Nicholson and Richard T. Kingsford (editors) INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE About IUCN IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together. Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and some 15,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards. IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development. www.iucn.org https://twitter.com/IUCN/ About the Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) The Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) promotes ecosystem-based approaches for the management of landscapes and seascapes, provides guidance and support for ecosystem-based management and promotes resilient socio-ecological systems