Costal Sage Ecosystem essays

Costal Sage Ecosystem essays The coastal sage scrub ecosystem that we researched in is a community of soft chaparral plants, which evolved either from trees or herbs in dry climates most similar to that of a Mediterranean shrub land. The climate has hot, dry summers with at least one month of protracted drought and cool, moist winters. The moisture is kept deep in the soil where the shrub obtain its most of its nutrients from compared to the shoot. Vegetation in this area gives its adaptation s to fire and to low about of nutrients in the soil. This system consists of plants mostly deciduous and rarely evergreen plants with multiply woody stems that measure at a height from 4.5 to 8 m high and the diversity of organisms are quite low. The shrubs in this type of environment has many advantages and its success is dependent on their ability to compete for nutrients, energy, and space. They have structural modifications to improve light interception, heat dissipation, and evaporation. They also have features th at gives them a competitive advantage over trees and grasses because shrubs are perennial plants, which needs fewer nutrients aboveground and more through their roots. Population of shrubs is greater than that of herbs because herbs in the coastal sage evolved to let their seeds lie dormant in the soil until they are released by means of fire. This area is highly flammable with many ground litter and are heavy seeder in which many species require the heat and scarring action of fire to induce germination. After the fire, the dormant seeds are germinated and grow into an aboveground plant as a source of food for grazers. The diversity of organisms in the soil plays an important role in the soil. Soil microbes perform biochemical activities crucial to the quality of the soil and to the organisms living in the area. These microbes are involved in nitrogen fixation, denitrification, nitrification, and decomposition. In the dec ...