Comparison Between California Chaparral and South African Fynbos

Mediterranean biomes consist mainly of five locations around the world. These geographical locations include Cape Town, Chile, Australia, California and the Mediterranean basin. The California Chaparral and the South African Fynbos are both classified under the Mediterranean-climate ecosystem. The Chaparral biome is known to cover the California Floristic Province, Baja California, and the Rogue River Valley of southwest Oregon. Chaparral is characterized by diverse, sclerophyllous and Shrub dominated plants (Barro and Susan 136). On the other hand, the South African Fynbos covers the western cape of South Africa. The ecosystem boast of biodiversity and numerous habitats including the shrubs, woodlands and the Mediterranean forest (Ojeda et al. 868). There are multiple similarities between the two ecosystems. Similarly, differences exist between two biomes.

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The California Chaparral is generally characterized by evergreen shrubs effectively adapted to recurrent wildfires. The community is known for its biodiversity. It has a broad variety of plant species that are regenerated after every fall fire season. Currently, the region holds 18% more plants species than it is accepted in the area it covers (Rundel et al. 394). The shrubs that dominate this region have undergone evolutionary response to wildfire. This is to respond to the seasonal wildfires that break during the hot summer periods. However, not all shrubs have undergone these changes. Nonetheless, the seeds germination in Chaparral flora has also undergone significant evolution and diversification.

The South African Fynbos, on the other hand, is a commonly known shrub-land in South Africa. It is located in the most parts of the Cape Fold Belt as well as regions between the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean The Mediterranean-like climate is characterized by long dry seasons with short and inconsistent rainy seasons. The Fynbos ecosystem supports up to 50% of the South African species. Just like the California Chaparral, the region is dominated by shrubland and woodland (Ojeda 867). The biome is constituted in a large bioregion of Cape floral town. Fynbos can be divided into montane Fynbos and lowland Fynbos.

California chaparral and South African Fynbos are both fire-maintained system. Fynbos usually burns on a 5-50 years rotation, mostly15-25 years (Rebelo et al. 58). As for California chaparral, the interval is between 30 and 150 years. These fire can start naturally in the late summer or early autumn during the end of the dry season. Lightning and rock falls are the most common causes of these fires. However, following the encroachment of humans into these ecosystems, they can also be responsible for starting these fires. In fynbos, the composition of the community is dictated by these fires, especially there temperature. In burning down these plants, the seeds that fall on earth grows and thereby developing new components in a community.

As for California chaparral, a natural fire regime characterized by large, high-intensity crown fire has been the most prevalent. In response to these unfolding, a rich diversity of long-lived seeds and corns which are triggered by the fire to germinate and re-sprout. After the fire, the community exhibit a rapid increase in diversity which is represented primarily by the annuals that constitute almost a third of the chaparral flora. However, in the postfire, they comprise about 50% (Keeley 90).

Animal-plant interaction can also be a factor that contributes to the change in the structure of the biomes. In South African fynbos, the herbivores have managed to interfere with its structure, biomass and the composition. Through feeding strategies and physical disturbance, these animals can alter various crucial properties of the ecosystem. Other than herbivores, large animals even without eating from the community will still interfere with the ecosystem. Unlike in the South African fynbos, the California chaparral is inhabited by almost all types of rodents (Barro et al. 137). These animals are relatively smaller when compared with the herbivores of South Africa. Therefore, they do not interfere too much with the structure of the ecosystem. Furthermore, these rodents have been part of the system since its conception.

Other than animals, invasive plants species interfere with the wide diversity and structure of the original ecosystem. One good example is the annual Grasses which are today common in California. Most of the grasses in California re non-native (Barro et al. 139). Unlike the native-grasses, this grass is not perennial and is generally burns more during the fall fire season. As a result, the continuous burning will produce large fires which destroys the seeds and as a result leave these regions with no vegetation. A continuous burning in these regions will lead to the formation of non-native perennial, annual grassland from the original native perennial desert scrub. Another goof invasive species in chaparral include herbaceous broadleaf plants. Also, Bromus spp. and Centaurea spp among others is known to interfere with the fire regime of the system. Nitrogen deposition can also enhance invasion (Barro et al. 139)

The abovementioned issue is also affecting the South African fynbos. Approximately 198 species have recently been identified in South Africa (Ojeda et al. 872). These plants are able to adapt quickly and can easily overwhelm the indigenous flora. Therefore, one introduced into South Africa, the competition between this species and the indigenous fynbos community will significantly interfere with the structure.

The South African fynbos is experiencing a huge threat from human activities. Farmers seeking to utilize these lands are quickly encroaching into regions. As a result, the percentage of land under this biome is quickly reducing. By entirely transforming these lands, the habitat of many members of this ecosystem is interfered with and as a result leaving them vulnerable. An entire overhaul of the biome structure has interfered with the ecological relationship in some areas of the biome. In California, the chaparral is also threatened by human activities. The destruction of the environment and reclamation of these lands was deemed. Moreover, the has been an issue of habitat loss and fragmentation of land which limits the ability of the ecosystem to track the climatic changes. Furthermore, issues such as accidental fires have destroyed a significant portion of these reserves. Also, the contribution of human activities to climatic changes is a huge threat to the continuation of these biomes. The impact of global warming is felt in all parts of the world. According to studies, it is believed that chaparral might lose up to 50% of its native shrubland as a result of the effects of climatic changes alone (Keeley 104). This is due to the temperature and precipitations which are predicted to change in the future.

There are various species which are unique to the South African fynbos environment. First, the Cape floral kingdom has approximately ten thousands species. A significant percentage of these species are indigenous to the region. Most of these species, especially birds can only be found in fynbos. Such a trait is a stress to the unique nature of the region. For example, birds like cape peninsula, False Bay east, Langeberg can only be seen in the Cape floral kingdom (Ojeda et al. 87). Although Chaparral enjoys diverse species, there is no major endemism as it is seen in the case of fynbos.

Conclusion

In summary, the California chaparral and South African fynbos are among the few regions in the world that that enjoy a Mediterranean-like climate. Additionally, both of their flora is fire-managed. This means that the regeneration of the community in these ecosystems is dependent on fires which burn the previous plants in order to create room for new flora. The seed of these plants is normally triggered by fire or heat to start the process of germination. The fire is rotational, occurring at intervals of time. The diversity that is seen in California chaparral and South African fynbos is dependent on the fire, the heat. In fact, the diversity and endemism of fynbos are clearly manifested through the unique species of bird it has. Nonetheless, In spite of the unique nature of these ecosystems, they face a threat to their existence. These threats are either climatic changes, invasive species or various human activities. Human activities include land fragmentation, accidental fires and pollutions that results in global warming. These actions are either destroying the entire ecosystem ore restructuring the system. In conclusion, there are striking similarities between these biomes except for a few differences.

Works Cited

Barro, Susan C., and Susan G. Conard. "Fire effects on California chaparral systems: an overview." Environment International 17.2-3 (1991): 135-149.

Keeley, Jon E. "Seed germination and life history syndromes in the California chaparral." The Botanical Review 57.2 (1991): 81-116.

Ojeda, Fernando, et al. "Biodiversity in South African fynbos and Mediterranean heathland." Journal of vegetation Science12.6 (2001): 867-874.

Rebelo, Anthony G., et al. "Fynbos Biome 4." (2006).

Rundel, Philip W., et al. "Mediterranean biomes: Evolution of their vegetation, floras, and climate." Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 47 (2016): 383-407.