Structure and Function of the California Chaparral — an Example from San Dimas

Abstract

Within the mediterranean climatic region of California there are diverse types of woody plant communities, which include evergreen forests and woodlands, evergreen scrubs (chaparral) in addition to a drought deciduous semi-arid scrub (coastal sage). These types cover extensive areas of California (Fig. 1). Certain ecological aspects of these communities have been discussed recently and compared with homologous types in other parts of the world (Naveh, 1967; Mooney and Dunn, 1970; Mooney et al., 1970; Specht, 1969 a,b). These studies give a general view of many aspects of the environmental relationships of these ecosystems throughout their extent.