Transcript Chaparral
Temperature •Mild Winters- an average temp. of 10 degrees Celsius •Dry Summers- average temp. of 40 degrees Celsius Precipitation • 15-40 inches of rain per year •Most precipitation occurs in the winter Seasons • Chaparral has four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
The 411 (continued)
Limiting Factors •The lack of precipitation during the summer months •Droughts • Frequent Fires
Species Diversity
• The Chaparral biome is not very diverse in terms of plant and animal life.
• Plants- most have small, hard leaves that are able to retain moisture – Poison oak, scrub oak, shrubs, trees, cacti • Animals- mostly grassland and desert types adapted to hot, dry weather •Jack rabbits, mule deer, praying mantis
Example Food Chain
Yucca Stink Beetle Ground Squirrel Gopher Snake
Some Extra Info
• The chaparral Biome is located on a little bit of most of the continents • Efforts to prevent naturally occurring fires often backfire causing much more severe fires or mudslides
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J. Kim Biome Project
Q u i c k F a c t s
ALMOST A DESERT BUT NOT QUITE… Temperature
Annual Avg. 59 ° F < High 91.5
° F > < Low 37 ° F > - Spring Avg 56 ° F - Summer Avg 71.7
° F - Autumn Avg 64.75
° F - Winter Avg 46 ° F
Solar Insolation – Seasons
Chaparrals have all four seasons although even though they are not as differentiated as in other regions
Precipitation
Only 10-17 inches annually - Spring 2.2 in - Summer .2 in - Autumn 4.2 in - Winter 6.8 in
Sunlight
Primarily between 30 – 50 degrees latitude – just north of the Tropic of Cancer ( Because of the low shrubs that dominate this area, there is a lot of sunlight )
P l a n t s & A n i m a l s - D I V E R S I T Y -
Western diamondback rattlesnake flannelbush chamise (greasewood)
leather oak
Texas horned lizard
wild goat
ground snake
chaparral
buckbrush (California lilac)
mouflon golden jackal
Food Chain
This is an example of a simple food chain in the chaparral. There are many different kinds of grasses which are consumed by grasshoppers.
Then the grasshoppers are eaten by the horned lizards
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These lizards are caught by predators such as hawks when they are basking in the sun.
F I R E ? ? ?
Chaparrals naturally burn every 30 to 40 years. These fires ravish the entire region, killing off many plants in the area. However, this is part of a natural life cycle for the biome, as from these ashes come the new beginnings.