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
Gopher Snake
Ground Squirrel
Some Extra Info
• The chaparral Biome is located
on a little bit of most of the
continents
• Efforts to prevent naturally
occurring fires often backfirecausing much more severe fires
or mudslides
c h a p a r r a l
J. Kim
Biome Project
Quick
Facts
ALMOST A DESERT BUT NOT QUITE…
Temperature
Precipitation
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
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 )
Plants & Animals
-DIVERSITYflannelbush
Western diamondback
rattlesnake
Texas horned
lizard
chamise (greasewood)
ground snake
leather oak
wild goat
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.
These lizards are caught by predators
such as hawks when they are basking in
the sun.
FIRE???
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.