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The California Chaparral and Woodlands ecoregion is one of only five Mediterranean shrublands and woodlands of its kind, which together support 20 percent of the plant species on Earth. The California Chaparral and Woodlands ecoregion is the only Mediterranean climate shrubland in North America. This Global 200 ecoregion is made up of these terrestrial ecoregions: California coastal sage and chaparral; California interior chaparral and woodlands; California montane chaparral and woodlands You may not expect California and Mexico to have much in common with southern Europe, given the great distance that separates them. But for millions of years, their similar climates allowed natural communities to develop many shared features. Until recently, much of coastal California was covered with shrubs, bushes, and small trees known as chaparral, a type of vegetation very much like that found along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Today, the chaparral woodlands and sage scrub are some of the most endangered ecosystems of North America.
The California Chaparral and Woodlands grow along the coast of California and Baja California (a part of Mexico), stretching inland to the foothills of several mountain ranges. The vegetation is short and scrubby, and even trees rarely grow taller than about 8 feet (2.5 m). Summers in the ecoregion are hot and dry, but winters are mild and wet. The sages and other evergreen plants and trees here can grow with very little rain. By late summer, the dense chaparral is so dry that it often catches fire. But where it occurs naturally, this process helps clear out old vegetation, adds nutrients to the soil, and enables the seeds of many species to germinate.
Several birds nest and hunt for insects in the chapparal, including the endangered California gnatcatcher and Costa’s hummingbird. Coast horned lizards and rosy boas glide through the dense vegetation, which also provides habitat for white-eared pocket mice and Santa Cruz and Heermann kangaroo rats. Many plants and insects are specially adapted to areas of nearly toxic, magnesium-rich soil (known as serpentine), including leather oak, interior silktassel, milkwort streptanthus, Muir’s hairstreak butterflies, and Sargent and McNab cypresses. They share the terrain with foothill pine, scrub and blue oak, California buckeye, and rare Gowen and Monterey cypresses. Many plants are endemic, such as the extremely rare San Gabriel Mountain liveforever, and the Catalina mahogany.
The California coast is heavily populated, and much of the ecoregion, particularly the chaparral areas, have been developed for cities and agriculture. Cattle have destroyed chaparral and riparian areas by overgrazing. Fires are often controlled to prevent damage to houses and other property, which changes the natural patterns that many species need to survive. And people have brought plants and animals into the ecoregion from other places that compete with native species.
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