Chaparral landscape
Chaparral Restoration

 

California's chaparral is primarily found in the coastal and inland regions of the State, particularly in the foothills and mountains. Along the coast, it is often restricted to higher elevations and north-facing slopes, while more inland it is most abundant on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. This plant community is characterized by dense, evergreen shrubs such as manzanita, chamise, and ceanothus, which are adapted to the region's hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Wildfire is an important ecological process in chaparral [1], and these shrubs are adapted to resprout and/or reseed following fire. This ecosystem also contains a high diversity of herbaceous plant species which are most abundant in the first few years after fire. However, increased fire frequency is a major driver of chaparral degradation if there is insufficient time for shrub communities to recover.

Despite the large land area covered by chaparral and the key ecosystem services these shrublands provide (e.g., erosion control, carbon sequestration, and recreation), informed management of these ecosystems has historically been neglected [2]. Interventions are increasingly necessary, however, in order to conserve chaparral species and protect them from the threats of urban expansion, land-use change, nonnative plant invasion. In particular, increased fire frequency driven by nonnative grasses and climate change is leading to “type conversion” of chaparral to invasive-dominated grasslands. Therefore, a key management priority for protecting chaparral is the control of invasive grasses and mitigating fire risk. Typically most chaparral restoration has relied on passive restoration, where disturbances and stressors are removed or mitigated and native species recover through natural successional processes [3]. Active restoration through seeding or transplanting may be necessary following fire events, and information on species composition, fire history, drought conditions, and erosion risk can be used to prioritize site selection [4]. Mimicking fire cues, such as through heat treatments or using liquid smoke, may increase seed germination of fire-adapted chaparral species [5].

Resources

References

  1. Keeley, J. E., & Keeley, S. C. (2007). Chaparral and fire. Fremontia, 35(4), 16-21. PDF
  2. Rundel, P. W. (2018). California chaparral and its global significance. Valuing chaparral: Ecological, socio-economic, and management perspectives, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68303-4_1
  3. Allen, E. B., Williams, K., Beyers, J. L., Phillips, M., Ma, S., & D’Antonio, C. M. (2018). Chaparral restoration. Valuing chaparral: ecological, socio-economic, and management perspectives, 347-384. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68303-4_13
  4. Underwood, E. C., Hollander, A. D., Molinari, N. A., Larios, L., & Safford, H. D. (2022). Identifying priorities for post‐fire restoration in California chaparral shrublands. Restoration Ecology, 30(3), e13513. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13513
  5. Wilkin, K. M., Holland, V. L., Keil, D., & Schaffner, A. (2013). Mimicking fire for successful chaparral restoration. Madroño, 60(3), 165-172. https://doi.org/10.3120/0024-9637-60.3.165