Читать книгу Hiking & Backpacking Big Sur. Your complete guide to the trails of Big Sur, Ventana Wilderness, and Silver Peak Wilderness онлайн

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The majority of chaparral in the Santa Lucias can be divided into two types: chamise chaparral and mixed chaparral. Chamise can grow in pure stands, while other plants grow in association with chamise to form mixed chaparral, where species such as ceanothus and manzanita dominate. The community includes manzanita species (Arctostaphylos spp.), buck brush (Ceanothus cuneatus), wartleaf (Ceanothus papillosus), California coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica), monkeyflower (Mimulus bifidus), California yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum), poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), and Our Lord’s candle (Yucca whipplei).

Chaparral carpets the hottest, driest slopes, where summer temperatures can soar above 100°F. When lightning strikes, fire spreads quickly through mature chaparral stands. The volatile oils in some chaparral shrubs make this one of the most fire-adapted plant communities in the world. Historically, in the Santa Lucia Range, fire ravages chaparral slopes once every 10 to 40 years. The community provides critical stabilizing cover on steep, rocky slopes. When fire rips through, the slopes are left barren and unstable, resulting in massive floods and landslides when heavy winter storms strike.