Climate & Elevation
This climate is defined by cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers.
What is a Mediterranean climate?
This geological process lifted mountain ranges and reshaped California’s climate patterns.
What is tectonic uplift?
The physical and chemical material that plants grow on is called this.
What is substrate (or soil type)?
Deserts receive less than this amount of precipitation per year.
What is 250 millimeters?
Thick, water‑storing tissues in desert plants are called this adaptation.
What is succulence?
Higher elevations in California generally experience this combination of conditions.
What are cooler temperatures and more precipitation?
This effect explains why deserts form on the leeward side of mountain ranges.
What is the rain shadow effect?
This substrate type has high heavy metals, low nutrients, and supports many endemic species.
What are serpentine soils?
The Mojave Desert is characterized by this primary growing season.
What is winter and spring?
Dropping leaves during dry periods is referred to as this strategy.
What is drought deciduousness?
Interior valley Mediterranean climates have hotter summers because they lack this coastal influence.
What is marine influence or coastal fog?
The uplift of this mountain range is largely responsible for the dryness of the Mojave Desert.
What is the Sierra Nevada?
Soils with high salt concentrations require plants adapted to this condition.
What is salinity (or saline soils)?
High heat, low water, and poor soils result in this level of productivity.
What is low productivity?
Leaf hairs that reduce heat and water loss are known as this.
What is leaf pubescence?
North‑facing slopes differ from south‑facing slopes because they receive less solar radiation, making them this.
What are cooler and moister?
Mountains increase biodiversity by creating barriers that lead to this evolutionary outcome.
What is isolation of populations?
Sandy substrates drain quickly, creating this major challenge for plant survival.
What is low water retention?
Desert plants survive long droughts and grow rapidly after brief rainfall events called this.
What are rain pulses?
A swollen plant base that allows resprouting after fire is called this.
What is a lignotuber?
Sharp changes in temperature and precipitation over short distances are best described by this term.
What are climate gradients?
Isolation combined with environmental stress leads to this process, producing endemic species.
What is divergence (or speciation)?
Substrate specialization promotes biodiversity by causing isolation and this ecological outcome.
What is endemism?
Large desert wildflower events following high rainfall years are known as this.
What are superblooms?
Plants must maximize CO₂ uptake while minimizing the loss of this key resource.
What is water?