Chaparral

Our first field trip took us to the natural community that dominates our region – the chaparral. This dense shrubland is mainly comprised of evergreen thick-leaved shrubs. The word chaparral originates from the Spanish “chaparro”, meaning place of scrub oak, which in Spain forms a similarly dense form of vegetation. Chaparral is generally found on steep slopes. This combination of dense vegetation and steep slopes means that most mature chaparral stands are tough to get through, which is why we took advantage of the fire road to get a look at this community.

In addition to soils that are relatively nutrient poor, the main challenges facing the plant species in chaparral are summer drought stress and persistence with fire.

We saw species that have thick or tough evergreen leaves that help the plant resist drying out. These included the often dominant shrub, chamise (or greasewood) – Adenostoma fasiculatum with its bundles of tough needle-like leaves. We also saw two species of flowering California lilac, Ceanothus megacarpus, and C. spinosus, as well as two species of manzanita – big berry manzanita, Arctostaphylos glauca and Eastwood manzanita, A. glandulosa.

Perhaps more than any other plant community, fire is a key factor structuring the evolution and ecology of plant species found there. We talked about some of the “strategies” various plant species have that allow them to sustain populations in the face of a powerful, seemingly totally destructive force.

We were able to witness some of fire’s force last summer (2007) when more than 240,000 acres of the Santa Barbara backcountry burned in the Zaca Fire. This fire, started by accidental ignition, took nearly two months to put out. It was the county’s largest and the state’s second largest wildfire, at least in recorded history. Ray Ford did a fantastic job covering the Zaca Fire for Santa Barbara, writing for the SB Independent. Here is one of his articles, but you can search the independent.com site for more.

There are some great resources for additional information about the flora and fauna in this fascinating community. I previously mentioned the book by Quinn and Keeley, Introduction to California Chaparral. Another very nice book, which includes discussion of the conflicts faced at this human-wildland interface is Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California by Richard Halsey.

Richard is the director of the California Chaparral Institute, a research and educational organization focusing on the ecology of California’s shrubland ecosystems and the dynamics of wildland fire in natural and human communities.

Check out Josh’s beautiful photos from our trip.

Map to our field trip site in the Santa Ynez Mountains: