plants

Chaparrals are dense shrubland thickets in the U.S. found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and in the northern part of the Mexican Baja peninsula. It is California’s most extensive and characteristic plant community, dominating the state's coastal foothills and mountain slopes.

Scientifically, chaparral is a semi-arid, shrub dominated association of sclerophyllous (“hard-leaved”), woody plants adapted to survive summer drought, mild, wet winters, and naturally recurring fires every 30 to 150 years. Sclerophyllous leaves are advantageous in a semi-arid climate owing to reduced evaporation thorough a variety of traits including waxy coatings, thicker cell layers, and recessed stomata, with pores in leaves permitting evaporation and the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Chaparral plants employ four key strategies against drought. They can be classified as (1) "avoiders" avoiding drought with long roots and hard / thick leaves like laurel sumac, (2) "persisters" which tolerate drought by physiological adaptations and movements like ceanothus, (3) "retreaters" annuals or underground storage organs, or (4) "chameleons" which evade drought by being semi-summer deciduous like black sage.

Because of its density, uniform cover and nonexistent understory of herbaceous plants, the diversity of chaparral animal life is low when compared to a forest ecosystem. However, the animals that do call the chaparral their home are an interesting assortment of highly territorial survivors including the scrub jay, the sparrow-sized wrentit, western diamondback rattlesnake, big-eared woodrat, and the mountain lion.

There are three seasons in California chaparral, fall, spring and drought. Fall is subtle, lasting only a few short weeks in June, punctuating spring and drought. Marked by a brief yellowing of the hillsides as some of the leaves on shrubs like ceanothus and manzanita are discarded, fall prepares the chaparral for long months of desiccation ahead. By mid-July, drought has settled in. Usually in November, moisture arrives and spring begins. The traditional winter months become part of the chaparral’s season of growth.

Distribution of chaparral in southern California is shaped by four main factors: latitude, coastal mountains, the ocean, and air mass movement. At the equator, warm, moist air rises. As it cools, rain is squeezed out and dry air cells drop back to earth along bands approximately thirty degrees latitude north and south of the equator. These areas are where the world’s great deserts appear. However, in six special places: central Chile; the Cape of South Africa; southwestern and southern Australia; the Mediterranean Basin; and California; a combination of local conditions holds back the desert and creates unique, semi-arid shrubland ecosystems.

Chaparral began forming approximately 14 million years ago as summer rains began decreasing. Beginning about ten million years ago fires appeared to dramatically increase. Adaptations to withstand drought and survive fire were selected for and plants requiring more moisture were pushed into canyons and higher elevations. Two million years ago coastal uplift occurred, creating some of the modern elevational variation we see today.

Chaparral is filled with groups of unique plants. As one becomes familiar with the system, a surprisingly wide variety of distinct communities appear. One hillside may be covered with a pure stand of chamise, while directly across the canyon, clumps of red-barked manzanita will be mixed with white flowering ceanothus.

The eight basic chaparral types are red shanks, ceanothus, chamise, mixed, manzanita, scrub oak and montane. Although the largest and most pristine stands of chaparral occur in southern California between 500 to 4,500 feet in elevation, smaller patches exist along the coast such as those on Carmel Mountain in San Diego County. Stands of red shanks chaparral can found at 7,000 feet in the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County. However, if there is one defining characteristic of nearly all chaparral, it is the presence of chamise, the ecosystem’s most pervasive shrub.

Credit / more info available at https://interwork.sdsu.edu/fire/resources/Chaparral.htm

Nature Census - Plants and Trees

How to conduct census primer - link

Ongoing efforts to document identified native and naturalized species of plants, algae, fungi and lichens in the Santa Cruz Mountain region are updated from various local census lists over time. Flora species known only from cultivation are not included.

Census is available in spreadsheet compatible format, with efforts to include scientific names, distribution, and status of currently known King’s Mountain plants, algae, fungi and lichen taxa (see definitions below). Print format also available on request.

List of flora names and status changes since prior publication is to be provided in Appendices.

Full data set to include names (including botanical names broken down into parts, i.e. genus, species etc.), higher classification (e.g. Kingdom, Class, Order), Group Name, distributions based on our observations, and native / naturalized status. Group name column enables filtering of the census to specific groups of plants, Angiosperms, flowering plants; Pteridophytes, ferns and fern allies; Gymnosperms, conifers and cycads; Bryophytes (mosses), Hornworts and Liverworts, Non-vascular plants; Fungi, macrofungi (micro fungi are excluded); Lichens; Algae (filter by kingdom for different groups of algae). Native are here defined as those that are considered to have evolved locally unaided by humans, or have migrated to and persisted without assistance from humans, from an area in which they are considered to be native. Naturalised and doubtfully naturalised species pose a threat to natural ecosystems, agriculture and grazing lands, listed as pests (restricted or prohibited) legally. Conservation status designations include critically endangered, endangered, extinct, extinct in the wild, vulnerable or near threatened.

Scientific names used in census list seek to comply with:

✓ International Code of Nomenclature of Algae, Fungi and Plants (Shenzhen Code) https://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php (Turland et. al. 2018) and the

✓ International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants - Ninth Edition https://www.ishs.org/scripta-horticulturae/international-code-nomenclature-cultivated-plants-ninth-edition (Brickell et al. 2016).

Trends

Native flora is currently represented by ____ native species across all groups, compared to ______ as of ( date ), including _____ species currently listed as threatened: Critically endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened or Extinct in the wild. The remaining native species are listed as Least Concern.

Plantae: vascular plants

Vascular plants are those that have distinct vascular tissue (xylem and phloem). Considered to have evolved from a single freshwater green algal ancestor and now include approximately 250,000 species worldwide. The flowering plants (angiosperms) are the largest group, but King’s Mountain also has many native conifers, cycads (gymnosperms) and ferns (pteridophytes).

Algae

Algae and Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) have traditionally been grouped together based on their ability to undertake photosynthesis in aquatic environments. Unlike land plants which evolved from a common ancestor, different lineages of algae have evolved separately in aquatic environments over the last three billion years. These different evolutionary histories are reflected in the current classification scheme which assigns ‘algal’ species to four of the six Kingdoms of Life on Earth: cyanobacteria (Eubacteria), red and green algae (Plantae), euglenoids and dinoflagellates (Protozoa, not covered in this census) and the brown algae, diatoms and several other phyla (Chromista, algae in the narrow sense). The classification of the ‘algae’ has changed markedly over the last fifty years and is expected to undergo further revisions as new species are discovered and more intensive studies generate new data. The arrangement of the kingdoms and their constituent cyanobacterial and algal species in this census follows Cavalier-Smith (2004). Globally, there are approximately 34,000 described species of cyanobacteria and algae, but this is probably only a tenth of the total species as there are many species still to be discovered. These organisms play an important role in aquatic ecosystems underpinning food webs including those supporting commercial fisheries, contributing to global carbon, nitrogen and sulphur cycles, stabilizing sediments to improve water quality and providing habitat for many other species.

Plantae: non-vascular plants—bryophytes

“Bryophyte” is a collective term for three distinct lineages of non-vascular land plants within the Kingdom Plantae: mosses (Bryophyta), liverworts (Marchantiophyta) and hornworts (Anthocerotophyta). The three lineages are grouped together because of shared traits, primarily small stature, lack of vascular tissue and a life cycle including a sporophyte (diploid spore producing phase) and a dominant gametophyte (haploid sexual phase which is the most easily seen form). From an evolutionary viewpoint, the bryophytes mark the transition from aquatic to terrestrial environments and are considered the closest modern relatives of terrestrial plants but the classification and relationships of the three lineages is still debated. There are an estimated 20,000 species worldwide. Bryophytes are the second-most diverse group of land plants after the angiosperms, and are often among the first species to colonise exposed surfaces such as road cuttings. Along with cyanobacteria, lichens and algae, bryophytes are a critical component of the biological crusts which bind the soil surface in semi-arid to arid areas.

The true mosses (Bryophyta) are the most diverse group and generally have leaves spirally arranged around the stem and usually have a mid-rib (costa). Mosses are either erect or creeping in form and are attached to the substrate via root-like structures (rhizoids).

Liverworts (Marchantiophyta) may be either flat (thallose) or leafy and superficially resemble mosses but leaves lack a costa. Many species grow on other plants, especially in high-rainfall forests and are important as habitats for invertebrates and, together with mosses, are important in regulating forest hydrology.

Hornworts (Anthocerotophyta) have distinctive elongated sporophytes that split longitudinally to release the spores, while the gametophytes are flat. Most species are terrestrial, growing on moist earthen banks or in gaps between ground covers. One genus (Dendroceros) is epiphytic on rough barked trees in rainforests.

Fungi: macrofungi

Fungi are an important, oft-overlooked component of ecosystem biodiversity. The functions that fungi perform include decomposition of organic matter, and thereby recycling of nutrients; symbiotic fungi that are associated with plant roots and tissues, assisting with water and nutrient absorption, and in some cases serving a protective role; carbon sequestration; soil structure and stability; bioremediation; and the pathogenic roles associated with disease, such as wood rot and myrtle rust. Notably, many fungi are important food sources for native animals.

Fungi appear in the fossil record at around the same time as plants and animals. The macro fungi recorded here include those with larger, more visible fruiting bodies and are mainly decomposers or mycorrhizal. Two groups included reflect the majority of fungal collections: the sac fungi (Ascomycetes) and the club fungi (Basidiomycetes). The sac fungi are recognized by the typical ascus (plural asci), a cup or sac usually containing eight sexually-produced spores. These include the cup fungi, morels, truffles and most lichens. Club fungi are recognized by their distinctive basidium (plural basidia), or club-shaped cells, which usually bear sexually-produced spores in groups of four. They include the mushrooms, boletes, puffballs, coral fungi, bracket fungi and many other forms. The classification of fungi is undergoing rapid changes due to the results of molecular studies.

Fungi: lichens

The lichens are a group of organisms characterized by a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a photobiont (photosynthetic organism). The photobiont is usually a green alga or a cyanobacterium (blue-green alga). The fungus is almost always a sac fungus (Ascomycete) but may also be a club fungus (Basidiomycete). About 40% of sac fungi are lichenized. Lichens are considered to be ancient in origin, appearing in the earliest known land floras.

A lichen name is strictly applicable to the fungal component only, the photobiont being classified separately. Most of the green-algal photobionts are not known to occur outside of lichens and many show genetic adaptation to the lichen life-style. Lichenization has occurred at least five times within the Ascomycota and several times in the Basidiomycota.

Useful plant references and web resources

Brickell, C.D., Alexander, C., Cubey, J.J., David, J.C., Hoffman, M.H.A., Leslie, A.C., Malecot, V., Xiaobai Jin (2016). International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. 9th Edn. Scripta Horticulturae 18. https://www.ishs.org/scripta-horticulturae/international-code-nomenclature-cultivated-plants-ninth-edition

Cavalier-Smith, T. (2004). Only six kingdoms of life. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B. 271: 1251–1262.

Global Plants Initiative. Global Plants on JSTOR. http://plants.jstor.org

Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. (2016). AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org

Kubitzki K. (ed). 1990 onward. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants Springer-Verlag: Berlin;Heidelberg, Germany.

Index Fungorum. http://www.indexfungorum.org/Index.htm

PPG1 (2016). A community based classification of ferns and lycophytes. J Syst. Evol. 54:563–603 Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 14 (APG4) [and more or less continuously updated since]. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb

The International Plant Name Index. http://www.ipni.org

The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/.

Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. http://www.tropicos.org

Turland, N. J., Wiersema, J. H., Barrie, F. R., Greuter, W., Hawksworth, D. L., Herendeen, P. S., Knapp, S., Kusber, W.-H., Li, D.-Z., Marhold, K., May, T. W., McNeill, J., Monro, A. M., Prado, J., Price, M. J. & Smith, G. F. (eds.) 2018: International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Shenzhen Code) adopted by the Nineteenth International Botanical Congress Shenzhen, China, July 2017. Regnum Vegetabile 159. Glashütten:

Koeltz Botanical Books. Title page https://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/pages/intro/title_page.html

Wiersema, J.H. (continuously updated). Taxonomic information on cultivated plants in the usda-ars germplasm 2 resources information network (GRIN). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory Agricultural Research Service

United States Department of Agriculture Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350, U.S.A. https://npgsweb.arsgrin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomyquery.aspx

World Flora Online: 'WFO (2019): World Flora Online. Published on the Internet. http://www.worldfloraonline.org