Editing Chaparral (section)

==Overview==
{{See also|Fire ecology}}

In its natural state, chaparral is characterized by infrequent fires, with natural fire return intervals ranging between 30 years and over 150 years.<ref name="Halsey Conservation Issues">{{Cite journal|last1=Halsey|first1=R.W.|last2=Keeley|first2=J.E.|date=2016|title=Conservation Issues: California chaparral|url=https://californiachaparral.org/__static/fea8c75bc95c015706d40af2bf07f8aa/halsey_and_keeley_chaparral_diversity_-2016-b-1.pdf?dl=1|journal=Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences|publisher=Elsevier Publications, Inc.|doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.09584-1|isbn=9780124095489}}</ref> Mature chaparral (at least 60 years since time of last fire) is characterized by nearly impenetrable, dense thickets (except the more open desert chaparral). These plants are flammable during the late summer and autumn months when conditions are characteristically hot and dry. They grow as woody shrubs with thick, leathery, [[evergreen]] and often small [[leaves]]. The plants are typically [[drought resistant]], with some exceptions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Venturas |first1=Martin D. |last2=MacKinnon |first2=Evan D. |last3=Dario |first3=Hannah L. |last4=Jacobsen |first4=Anna L. |last5=Pratt |first5=R. Brandon |last6=Davis |first6=Stephen D. |date=2016-07-08 |title=Chaparral Shrub Hydraulic Traits, Size, and Life History Types Relate to Species Mortality during California's Historic Drought of 2014 |journal=[[PLOS One]] |volume=11 |issue=7 |pages=e0159145 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0159145 |pmid=27391489 |pmc=4938587 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1159145V |issn=1932-6203 |doi-access=free }}</ref> After the first rains following a fire, the landscape is dominated by small flowering herbaceous plants, known as fire followers, which die back with the summer dry period.

Similar plant communities are found in the four other Mediterranean climate regions around the world, including the [[Mediterranean Basin]] (where it is known as {{lang|fr|[[maquis shrubland|maquis]]}}), central [[Chile]] (where it is called {{lang|es|[[Chilean Matorral|matorral]]}}), the [[South Africa]]n Cape Region (known there as {{lang|af|[[fynbos]]}}), and in Western and Southern [[Australia]] (as {{lang|nys|[[kwongan]]}}). According to the California Academy of Sciences, Mediterranean shrubland contains more than 20% of the world's plant diversity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.calacademy.org/educators/lesson-plans/discovering-rainforest-locations|title=Discovering Rainforest Locations|website=California Academy of Sciences}}</ref> Chaparral comprises 9% of California's wildland vegetation and contains 20% of its plant species.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

[[Conservation International]] and other conservation organizations consider chaparral to be a [[biodiversity hotspot]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/california_floristic/Pages/default.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714080728/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/california_floristic/Pages/default.aspx |archive-date=2007-07-14 |title=The Biodiversity Hotspots_Conservation International }}</ref> – a [[biological community]] with a large number of different species that is threatened by human activity.

Chaparral characteristically is found in areas with steep topography and shallow stony soils, while adjacent areas with clay soils, even where steep, tend to be colonized by annual plants and grasses. Some chaparral species are adapted to nutrient-poor soils developed over serpentine and other ultramafic rock, with a high ratio of magnesium and iron to calcium and potassium, that are also generally low in essential nutrients such as nitrogen.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}