Photo from Cold Creek Docents

 Did you know that you live in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem?

California is one of only five regions in the world that fall into this category. The others are in Chile, the Mediterranean basin in Europe, southwestern Africa and southwestern Australia. All of them typically have mild wet winters and warm dry summers.

What is an ecosystem? It can be simply described as a place where living things such as plants and animals interact with a nonliving environment such as soil and rocks.

Chaparral is the name for a type of plant community found in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem. It is sometimes called the "elfin forest" because the vegetation is thick like a forest but also short.

The UCLA Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve is home to a variety of plants and animals. Some of the common chaparral plant names are sage, scrub oak, chamise, laurel sumac and redshank. Animals often found in chaparral include deer, birds and rodents as well as lizards and snakes.

The Cold Creek Docents lead hikes through the chaparral, and coordinate other K-12 environmental programs at the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve. Docent-led tours of the reserve can be booked by calling (818) 346-9675, Ext. 343. For more information and free curriculum guides visit http://nrs.ucop.edu/Reserves/stunt.html. Call (310) 206- 3887 for general information about Stunt Ranch.

This learning link was provided by Carol Felixson, director of education/community outreach, UCLA Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve.