Chaparral Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Chaparral is a biota found in areas across the world, notably the southwestern United States, northwestern Mexico and the shores of the Mediterranean (where it is known as maquis). It usually occurs in regions having between 10-20 inches (25-50 cm) of rainfall annually and with a Mediterranean-style climate. Summers in the chaparral are arid, whilst winters are cool and damp.A typical chaparral plant community consists of densely-growing evergreen oaks and other drought-resistant shrubs. It often grows so densely that it is all but impenetrable to large animals and humans. This, and its generally arid condition, makes it notoriously prone to wildfires. However, chaparral actually needs frequent burning and is adapted to regular fires. When human intervention prevents it from being burned off, a dangerous accumulation of flammable material can accumulate which results in devastating fires that rage out of control, causing widespread destruction. Since 1978, the United States Forest Service has adopted a policy of fire management which seeks to reduce the amount of old growth through regular managed burns.
The word chaparral comes from the Spanish word chaparro, or dwarf evergreen oak, which itself comes from the Basque word txapar, with the same meaning.
Areas of chaparrals include:
- Coastal Regions of Australia (Western and Southern)
- Coastal Regions of the Mediterranean Sea
- Coast of California, USA
- Coast of Central Chile
- South African Cape Region
- Blue oak
- Ceanothus
- Chamise, (Adenostoma fasciculatum)
- Coast live oak
- Laurel sumac, (Rhus laurina)
- Manzanita
- Mountain mahogany
- Sagebrush
- Toyon
- Yucca
Chapparal can also mean a US Army surface to air missile system based on the Sidewinder air-to-air missile system. The launcher is based on the M113 family of vehicles and carries and fires four missiles.