Chaparral

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Chaparral, type of shrub-land community that is dominated by small-leaved evergreen vegetation. Such habitats are characteristic of the Mediterranean type of climate with warm, wet winters and long, dry summers. The name (Spanish chaparra,”scrub oak”) is applied to the shrub lands of California and Baja California that are dominated by scrub oak and by the dense shrubs chamiso and manzanita. Chaparral is fire dependent. Fire wipes out decadent growth, disposes of accumulated litter, recycles nutrients, and stimulates new, vigorous growth from seeds and sprouts.

Other shrub lands in the American Southwest with similar vegetation are sometimes called chaparral, but they lack chamiso, and the summers are not as long and dry. In other areas with a Mediterranean climate, equivalent plant communities are given such local names as the tomillares of Spain, the macchia of the Mediterranean countries and South Africa, the phrygana of the Balkans, and the brigalow shrub of South Australia.

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