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| CHAMISE CHAPARRAL |
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| OAK WOODLANDS |
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| COASTAL SAGE SCRUB |
Historical
State
The
ecoregion that will be further discussed is the California coastal sage,
chaparral, and woodlands.
This ecoregion is found in
California and Baja California and has a Mediterranean climate—which means it
has cold winters and dry, hot summers. It mostly consists of open low mountain
or foothills, but there are some areas of plain. This landscape is very
diverse, both in species and habitats. Some of the habitats it includes are
montane conifer forests, torrey pine woodlands, cypress woodlands, southern
walnut woodlands, oak woodlands, riparian woodlands, chamise chaparral, inland
and coastal sage scrub, grasslands, vernal pools, and freshwater and salt
marshes. Although there are a lot of
different habitats on this landscape, this ecoregion got its name because
coastal sage scrub, chamise chaparral, and oak woodlands dominate the
landscape. All three of these habitats are interconnected with one another,
which is why they are seen as one ecoregion.
This ecoregion is home to many
native and non-native species of flora and fauna. Unfortunately a lot of it is
facing extinction. This ecoregion was once massive, and was home to way more
plants and animals. Today, a lot of this ecoregion is seen in fragments or
remnant patches and is now home to many endangered species. Much of this region
is used to graze domestic livestock. This ecoregion has undergone a lot of
geographical changes due to shifts in the tectonic plates, but humans have also
impacted the new geography of the ecoregion. As a result, some of the habitats
in this ecoregion have either been greatly reduced or disappeared.
Coastal Sage Scrub:
-Dry rocky and
gravelly slopes of the Southern California coast
-It has species
diversity and endemism
-Is now a rare
habitat
-Occurs in
coastal terraces and foothills below 1,000 meters; usually occurs in lower
slopes than chaparral—about 3000ft below
-It is
intercepted by chamise chaparral, oak woodlands, and salt marsh
-It is
characterized by various low, aromatic and drought-deciduous shrublands; so it
largely sheds leaves during the summer
-Has a fire dependent community
-Has a fire dependent community
-Primarily
active during the cool, wet winters
Chamise Chaparral:
-Dry slopes and
ridges below the Yellow Pine forest
-Occur in higher
elevations, but it can also be found near the coast in areas with deeper soils
and increased moisture.
-Not as active
during the winter
-It has some
summer drought-tolerant plants with hard sclerophyllous evergreen leaves
-It is
fire-prone
-Some of the dominate
plants are: Chamizo, Manzanito, and Buckthorn
Oak Woodlands:
-Valleys of
interior southern California form Los Angeles County to Mexico (Baja
California)
-Is widespread
at lower elevations, but it also occurs in high elevations, in foothills, and around
inland valleys
-Dominant trees
are oaks but it also has other coniferous trees, grasses, herbs, and native
plants
-It has trees as
tall as about 5000ft
-The most
dominate oak is the coast live oak
-Out of the
three this is the one that has visibly been more reduced.
-Vernal pools
sometimes surround oak savannas and grasslands
CALIFORNIA
COASTAL SAGE AND CHAPARRAL
Human Impact
The
human impact on this ecoregion has been bad. Due to urbanization and
agriculture much of this ecoregion has been lost. As of today, only 15% of the
region is intact. But most of the habitats are now confined to remnant patches.
Urbanization threat:
A
vast majority of this ecosystem has been lost due to housing, golf courses,
roads, orchards, and other forms of development. Many of the remaining habitats
are surrounded by development; this is especially the case near the coast. Many
of the species that are located in theses habitats are forced to live in a
hostile environment since humans and non-native species frequently invade their
homes. Native species are threatened by the alien species introduced by humans.
Humans also affect this ecoregion because they cause fires, pollution, and
because of dumping. Urbanization affects the coastal sage, chaparral, and
woodlands because humans pollute the environment and this results in the death
of many animals and plants. Smog, which is a type of pollution, damages the
growth and current existence of species because it contaminates the air.
Agriculture:
Humans
have used this ecoregion’s rich soil for agriculture and grazing. As a result
of agriculture humans have eliminated the ecosystems natural element of fire.
Humans have suppressed fires and this has caused senescent vegetation. The
suppression of fire is not a good thing because fire is a natural element in
this ecosystem. Without fire, the plants can’t die and resprout new life. But
humans must suppress fire because fire can damage their crops and harm their
livestock. Grazing has also had a negative effect on the lifestyle of the
species in this ecoregion. Especially on Oak woodlands because the cattle don’t
allow them to produce saplings since they tear them apart. Grazing has also had
a major impact on the coastal sage scrubs.
Both
of these elements have caused the endangerment of these habitats because urban development
and agriculture require plowing—which forces the removal of these habitats.
With both of these elements comes the introduction of non-native species.
Non-native species pose a threat to the life of native plants and animals
because they tend to be the greatest source of death of native species. These
species are not taken care of and are well on their way to extinction. Humans
have led the destruction of this ecoregion, and there are no signs of this
problem ending soon.
Future of
the ecosystem
For
humans, these habitats provide housing, entertainment, food, and life but they
fail to acknowledge the problem they have caused. Humans have created the
extinction of this ecosystem and with continued agriculture and development the
future of this ecoregion does not look good.
As
a result there have been many attempts to conserve certain parts of this
ecoregion. There are existing laws that attempt to protect the habitats but
they only offer minimal protection. Some example of existing laws are:
1)
The Natural Communities Conservation Planning Program (NCCP) of
1991—this program restricts the destruction of some coastal sage scrub
2)
The Endangered Species Act—this creates restrictions on the
destruction of habitats of extant birds
3)
The Nature Conservancy—this tries to restore native habitats
In
Mexico, there are also some parts that are carefully monitored because they
provide homes to endangered birds and other animals.
Also,
the Oaks 2040 survey estimated that by 2040 California woodlands would be
seriously threatened.
To
raise awareness of poorly conserved ecoregion, species are added to the
Endangered Species Act, but many of them are ignored and not given recognition.
Like stated above, existing laws only provide minimal protection. Urbanization
continues to exterminate species and their habitats. Studies suggest that the
few remaining areas will lose it’s native vertebrate species, and their
habitats, within a few decades.
What can de
done?
To
protect these areas current laws need to be made. The preexisting laws are not
taken seriously because they do not contain any major consequences; in order
for people to pay closer attention to this situation new laws need to be made with
serious consequences. There also has to be strict restrictions on what areas development
is no allowed. The state needs to protect this ecoregion because it is vital to
some animals—and some parts are even vital to humans. The coastal sage scrub
for example, is an important habitat for humans because sage scrub recycles
carbon, filters our water, and replenishes our oxygen.
We
can also help this ecoregion by removing all the non-native species from there.
Removing all the non-native species will help because non-native species often
kill native species. After removing all non-native species we can replant
native flora to help them spread faster. We can help the native fauna by
restoring their habitat. By restoring their habitat, they will have a clean
environment to roam in.
Unfortunately
for some species it is too late, because their habitat has been reduced to
remnant patches, and there is no way they can survive there. Pollution has also
made some regions uninhabitable, because of the smog produced by urbanization.
Overall,
the most important thing that can be done to protect this ecoregion is too just
make people aware of the amounts of species that are endangered. Humans need to set a balance and boundaries
between where and where not they can develop and set up agriculture.
-caflora.net/botanicalnames/plantcommunities.html
-eoearth.org/article/California_coastal_sage_and_chaparral
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_sage_scrub
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_chaparral_and_woodlands
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaparral
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_woodland
-jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2442330.pdf?acceptTC=true
-mountainstrust.org/DOCS/ChaparralPlantandAniamalCommunitites.pdf
-nativeseednetwork.org/ecodetail?region6
-worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na1203
