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Chaparral

Chaparral is a shrubland plant community found primarily in California, in southern Oregon and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires.

Many chaparral shrubs have hard sclerophyllous evergreen leaves, as contrasted with the associated soft-leaved, drought-deciduous, scrub community of coastal sage scrub, found often on drier, southern facing slopes.

Three other closely related chaparral shrubland systems occur in central Arizona, western Texas, and along the eastern side of central Mexico's mountain chains, all having summer rains in contrast to the Mediterranean climate of other chaparral formations. Chaparral comprises 9% of California's wildland vegetation and contains 20% of its plant species.

Etymology
The name comes from the Spanish word chaparro, which translates to "place of the scrub oak".

Introduction
In its natural state, chaparral is characterized by infrequent fires, with natural fire return intervals ranging between 30 years and over 150 years. Mature chaparral (at least 60 years since time of last fire) is characterized by nearly impenetrable, dense thickets (except the more open desert chaparral). These plants are flammable during the late summer and autumn months when conditions are characteristically hot and dry. They grow as woody shrubs with thick, leathery, and often small leaves, contain green leaves all year (are evergreen), and are typically drought resistant (with some exceptions ). After the first rains following a fire, the landscape is dominated by small flowering herbaceous plants, known as fire followers, which die back with the summer dry period.

Similar plant communities are found in the four other Mediterranean climate regions around the world, including the Mediterranean Basin (where it is known as maquis), central Chile (where it is called matorral), the South African Cape Region (known there as fynbos), and in Western and Southern Australia (as kwongan). According to the California Academy of Sciences, Mediterranean shrubland contains more than 20 percent of the world's plant diversity. The word chaparral is a loanword from Spanish chaparro, meaning place of the scrub oak, which itself comes from a Basque word, txapar, that has the same meaning.

Conservation International and other conservation organizations consider chaparral to be a biodiversity hotspot – a biological community with a large number of different species – that is under threat by human activity.

California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion
The California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, has three sub-ecoregions with ecosystem—plant community subdivisions:
 * California coastal sage and chaparral: In coastal Southern California and northwestern coastal Baja California, as well as all of the Channel Islands off California and Guadalupe Island (Mexico).
 * California montane chaparral and woodlands: In southern and central coast adjacent and inland California regions, including covering some of the mountains of the California Coast Ranges, the Transverse Ranges, and the western slopes of the northern Peninsular Ranges.
 * California interior chaparral and woodlands: In central interior California surrounding the Central Valley, covering the foothills and lower slopes of the northeastern Transverse Ranges and the western Sierra Nevada range.

Chaparral and woodlands biota
For the numerous individual plant and animal species found within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, see:
 * Flora of the California chaparral and woodlands
 * Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands.

Some of the indicator plants of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion include: Chaparral soils and nutrient composition
 * Quercus species – oaks:
 * Quercus agrifolia – coast live oak
 * Quercus berberidifolia – scrub oak
 * Quercus chrysolepis – canyon live oak
 * Quercus douglasii – blue oak
 * Quercus wislizeni – interior live oak
 * Artemisia species – sagebrush:
 * Artemisia californica – California sagebrush, coastal sage brush
 * Arctostaphylos species – manzanitas:
 * Arctostaphylos glauca – bigberry manzanita
 * Arctostaphylos manzanita – common manzanita
 * Ceanothus species – California lilacs:
 * Ceanothus cuneatus – buckbrush
 * Ceanothus megacarpus – bigpod ceanothus
 * Rhus species – sumacs:
 * Rhus integrifolia – lemonade berry
 * Rhus ovata – sugar bush
 * Eriogonum species – buckwheats:
 * Eriogonum fasciculatum – California buckwheat
 * Salvia species – sages:
 * Salvia mellifera – Californian black sage

Chaparral characteristically is found in areas with steep topography and shallow stony soils, while adjacent areas with clay soils, even where steep, tend to be colonized by annual plants and grasses. Some chaparral species are adapted to nutrient-poor soils developed over serpentine and other ultramafic rock, with a high ratio of magnesium and iron to calcium and potassium, that are also generally low in essential nutrients such as nitrogen.

California cismontane and transmontane chaparral subdivisions
Another phytogeography system uses two California chaparral and woodlands subdivisions: the cismontane chaparral and the transmontane (desert) chaparral.

California cismontane chaparral
Cismontane chaparral ("this side of the mountain") refers to the chaparral ecosystem in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome in California, growing on the western (and coastal) sides of large mountain range systems, such as the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in the San Joaquin Valley foothills, western slopes of the Peninsular Ranges and California Coast Ranges, and south-southwest slopes of the Transverse Ranges in the Central Coast and Southern California regions.

Cismontane chaparral plant species
In Central and Southern California chaparral forms a dominant habitat. Members of the chaparral biota native to California, all of which tend to regrow quickly after fires, include:

 * Adenostoma fasciculatum, chamise
 * Adenostoma sparsifolium, redshanks
 * Arctostaphylos spp., manzanita
 * Ceanothus spp., ceanothus
 * Cercocarpus spp., mountain mahogany
 * Cneoridium dumosum, bush rue
 * Eriogonum fasciculatum, California buckwheat
 * Garrya spp., silk-tassel bush
 * Hesperoyucca whipplei, yucca
 * Heteromeles arbutifolia, toyon
 * Acmispon glaber, deerweed
 * Malosma laurina, laurel sumac
 * Marah macrocarpus, wild cucumber
 * Mimulus aurantiacus, bush monkeyflower
 * Pickeringia montana, chaparral pea
 * Prunus ilicifolia, islay or hollyleaf cherry
 * Quercus berberidifolia, scrub oak
 * Q. dumosa, scrub oak
 * Q. wislizenii var. frutescens
 * Rhamnus californica, California coffeeberry
 * Rhus integrifolia, lemonade berry
 * Rhus ovata, sugar bush
 * Salvia apiana, Californian white sage
 * Salvia mellifera, Californian black sage
 * Xylococcus bicolor, mission manzanita

Cismontane chaparral bird species
The complex ecology of chaparral habitats supports a very large number of animal species. The following is a short list of birds which are an integral part of the cismontane chaparral ecosystems.

 * Characteristic chaparral bird species include:

 * Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)
 * California thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum)
 * California towhee (Melozone crissalis)
 * Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
 * California scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica)

 * Other common chaparral bird species include:

 * Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna)
 * Bewick's wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
 * Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
 * Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae)
 * Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

California transmontane (desert) chaparral
Transmontane chaparral or desert chaparral —transmontane ("the other side of the mountain") chaparral—refers to the desert shrubland habitat and chaparral plant community growing in the rainshadow of these ranges. Transmontane chaparral features xeric desert climate, not Mediterranean climate habitats, and is also referred to as desert chaparral. Desert chaparral is a regional ecosystem subset of the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, with some plant species from the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion. Unlike cismontane chaparral, which forms dense, impenetrable stands of plants, desert chaparral is often open, with only about 50 percent of the ground covered. Individual shrubs can reach up to 10 ft in height.

Transmontane chaparral or desert chaparral is found on the eastern slopes of major mountain range systems on the western sides of the deserts of California. The mountain systems include the southeastern Transverse Ranges (the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains) in the Mojave Desert north and northeast of the Los Angeles basin and Inland Empire; and the northern Peninsular Ranges (San Jacinto, Santa Rosa, and Laguna Mountains), which separate the Colorado Desert (western Sonoran Desert) from lower coastal Southern California. It is distinguished from the cismontane chaparral found on the coastal side of the mountains, which experiences higher winter rainfall. Naturally, desert chaparral experiences less winter rainfall than cismontane chaparral. Plants in this community are characterized by small, hard (sclerophyllic) evergreen (non-deciduous) leaves. Desert chaparral grows above California's desert cactus scrub plant community and below the pinyon-juniper woodland. It is further distinguished from the deciduous sub-alpine scrub above the pinyon-juniper woodlands on the same side of the Peninsular ranges.

Due to the lower annual rainfall (resulting in slower plant growth rates) when compared to cismontane chaparral, desert chaparral is more vulnerable to biodiversity loss and the invasion of non-native weeds and grasses if disturbed by human activity and frequent fire.

Transmontane chaparral distribution
Transmontane (desert) chaparral typically grows on the lower (3500 – elevation) northern slopes of the southern Transverse Ranges (running east to west in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties) and on the lower (2500 –) eastern slopes of the Peninsular Ranges (running south to north from lower Baja California to Riverside and Orange counties and the Transverse Ranges). It can also be found in higher-elevation sky islands in the interior of the deserts, such as in the upper New York Mountains within the Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert.

The California transmontane (desert) chaparral is found in the rain shadow deserts of the following:
 * Sierra Nevada creating the Great Basin Desert and northern Mojave Desert
 * Transverse ranges creating the western through eastern Mojave Desert
 * Peninsular ranges creating the Colorado Desert and Yuha Desert.

Transmontane chaparral plants

 * Adenostoma fasciculatum, chamise (a low shrub common to most chaparral with clusters of tiny needle like leaves or fascicles; similar in appearance to coastal Eriogonum fasciculatum)
 * Agave deserti, desert agave
 * Arctostaphylos glauca, bigberry manzanita (smooth red bark with large edible berries; glauca means blue-green, the color of its leaves)
 * Ceanothus greggii, desert ceanothus, California lilac (a nitrogen fixer, has hair on both sides of leaves for heat dissipation)
 * Cercocarpus ledifolius, curl leaf mountain mahogany, a nitrogen fixer important food source for desert bighorn sheep
 * Dendromecon rigida, bush poppy (a fire follower with four petaled yellow flowers)
 * Ephedra spp., Mormon teas
 * Fremontodendron californicum, California flannel bush (lobed leaves with fine coating of hair, covered with yellow blossoms in spring)
 * Opuntia acanthocarpa, buckhorn cholla (branches resemble antlers of a deer)
 * Opuntia echinocarpa, silver or golden cholla (depending on color of the spines)
 * Opuntia phaeacantha, desert prickly pear (fruit is important food source for animals)
 * Purshia tridentata, buckbrush, antelope bitterbrush (Rosaceae family)
 * Prunus fremontii, desert apricot
 * Prunus fasciculata, desert almond (commonly infested with tent caterpillars of Malacosoma spp.)
 * Prunus ilicifolia, holly-leaf cherry
 * Quercus cornelius-mulleri, desert scrub oak or Muller's oak
 * Rhus ovata, sugar bush
 * Simmondsia chinensis, jojoba
 * Yucca schidigera, Mojave yucca
 * Hesperoyucca whipplei (syn. Yucca whipplei), foothill yucca – our lord's candle.

Transmontane chaparral animals
There is overlap of animals with those of the adjacent desert and pinyon-juniper communities.
 * Canis latrans, coyote
 * Lynx rufus, bobcat
 * Neotoma sp., desert pack rat
 * ''Odocoileus hemionus, mule deer
 * Peromyscus truei, pinyon mouse
 * Puma concolor, mountain lion
 * Stagmomantis californica, California mantis

Fire
Chaparral is a coastal biome with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. The chaparral area receives about 38 – of precipitation a year. This makes the chaparral most vulnerable to fire in the late summer and fall.

The chaparral ecosystem as a whole is adapted to be able to recover from naturally infrequent, high-intensity fire (fires occurring between 30 and 150 years or more apart); indeed, chaparral regions are known culturally and historically for their impressive fires. (This does create a conflict with human development adjacent to and expanding into chaparral systems.) Additionally, Native Americans burned chaparral near villages on the coastal plain to promote plant species for textiles and food. Before a major fire, typical chaparral plant communities are dominated by manzanita, chamise Adenostoma fasciculatum and Ceanothus species, toyon (which can sometimes be interspersed with scrub oaks), and other drought-resistant shrubs with hard (sclerophyllous) leaves; these plants resprout (see resprouter) from underground burls after a fire.

Plants that are long-lived in the seed bank or serotinous with induced germination after fire include chamise, Ceanothus, and fiddleneck. Some chaparral plant communities may grow so dense and tall that it becomes difficult for large animals and humans to penetrate, but may be teeming with smaller fauna in the understory. The seeds of many chaparral plant species are stimulated to germinate by some fire cue (heat or the chemicals from smoke or charred wood). During the time shortly after a fire, chaparral communities may contain soft-leaved herbaceous, fire following annual wildflowers and short-lived perennials that dominate the community for the first few years – until the burl resprouts and seedlings of chaparral shrub species create a mature, dense overstory. Seeds of annuals and shrubs lie dormant until the next fire creates the conditions needed for germination.

Several shrub species such as Ceanothus fix nitrogen, increasing the availability of nitrogen compounds in the soil.

Because of the hot, dry conditions that exist in the California summer and fall, chaparral is one of the most fire-prone plant communities in North America. Some fires are caused by lightning, but these are usually during periods of high humidity and low winds and are easily controlled. Nearly all of the very large wildfires are caused by human activity during periods of hot, dry easterly Santa Ana winds. These human-caused fires are commonly ignited by power line failures, vehicle fires and collisions, sparks from machinery, arson, or campfires.

Threatened by high fire frequency
Though adapted to infrequent fires, chaparral plant communities can be eliminated by frequent fires. A high frequency of fire (less than 10-15 years apart) will result in the loss of obligate seeding shrub species such as Manzanita spp. This high frequency disallows seeder plants to reach their reproductive size before the next fire and the community shifts to a sprouter-dominance. If high frequency fires continue over time, obligate resprouting shrub species can also be eliminated by exhausting their energy reserves below-ground. Today, frequent accidental ignitions can convert chaparral from a native shrubland to non-native annual grassland and drastically reduce species diversity, especially under drought brought about by climate change.

Wildfire debate
There are two older hypotheses relating to California chaparral fire regimes that caused considerable debate in the past within the fields of wildfire ecology and land management. Research over the past two decades have rejected these hypotheses:
 * 1) That older stands of chaparral become "senescent" or "decadent", thus implying that fire is necessary for the plants to remain healthy,
 * 2) That wildfire suppression policies have allowed dead chaparral to accumulate unnaturally, creating ample fuel for large fires.

The perspective that older chaparral is unhealthy or unproductive may have originated during the 1940s when studies were conducted measuring the amount of forage available to deer populations in chaparral stands. However, according to recent studies, California chaparral is extraordinarily resilient to very long periods without fire and continues to maintain productive growth throughout pre-fire conditions. Seeds of many chaparral plants actually require 30 years or more worth of accumulated leaf litter before they will successfully germinate (e.g., scrub oak, Quercus berberidifolia; toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia; and holly-leafed cherry, Prunus ilicifolia). When intervals between fires drop below 10 to 15 years, many chaparral species are eliminated and the system is typically replaced by non-native, invasive, weedy grassland.

The idea that older chaparral is responsible for causing large fires was originally proposed in the 1980s by comparing wildfires in Baja California and southern California. It was suggested that fire suppression activities in southern California allowed more fuel to accumulate, which in turn led to larger fires. This is similar to the observation that fire suppression and other human-caused disturbances in dry, ponderosa pine forests in the Southwest of the United States has unnaturally increased forest density. Historically, mixed-severity fires likely burned through these forests every decade or so, burning understory plants, small trees, and downed logs at low-severity, and patches of trees at high-severity. However, chaparral has a high-intensity crown-fire regime, meaning that fires consume nearly all the above ground growth whenever they burn, with a historical frequency of 30 to 150 years or more. A detailed analysis of historical fire data concluded that fire suppression activities have been ineffective at excluding fire from southern California chaparral, unlike in ponderosa pine forests. In addition, the number of fires is increasing in step with population growth and exacerbated by climate change. Chaparral stand age does not have a significant correlation to its tendency to burn.

Large, infrequent, high-intensity wildfires are part of the natural fire regime for California chaparral. Extreme weather conditions (low humidity, high temperature, high winds), drought, and low fuel moisture are the primary factors in determining how large a chaparral fire becomes.

title: Chaparral


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CJD

CJD can mean:

 * Chojoongdong, South Korean newspaper
 * Christliches Jugenddorfwerk Deutschlands, German Christian educational institution
 * Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, rare disease of the brain caused by prions
 * Candilejas Airport, Colombia (by IATA code)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: CJD


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Clinker

Clinker may refer to:

 * Cement clinker, a kilned then quenched cement product
 * Clinker (boat building), construction method for wooden boats
 * Clinker (waste), waste from industrial processes, particularly coal burning
 * Clinkers (album), a 1978 album by saxophonist Steve Lacy
 * Clinker brick, rough dark-coloured bricks
 * Clinker Peak, a volcanic peak in British Columbia, Canada
 * Clinker Ridge, a mountain ridge in British Columbia. Canada
 * Gary James Joynes, a.k.a. Clinker
 * Mount Price (British Columbia), formerly known as Clinker Mountain

Clinker may also refer to:
 * Small rocks that form in some ʻAʻā lava flows
 * Waste from coal-seam fires

Surname

 * Cletus Clinker (1911–1979), American football player and coach
 * Humphry Clinker, title character of Tobias Smollett's 1771 novel The Expedition of Humphry Clinker

title: Clinker


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Clipper

A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century.

Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th-century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Clipper" does not refer to a specific sailplan; clippers may be schooners, brigs, brigantines, etc., as well as full-rigged ships. Clippers were mostly constructed in British and American shipyards, although France, Brazil, the Netherlands, and other nations also produced some. Clippers sailed all over the world, primarily on the trade routes between the United Kingdom and China, in transatlantic trade, and on the New York-to-San Francisco route around Cape Horn during the California Gold Rush. Dutch clippers were built beginning in the 1850s for the tea trade and passenger service to Java.

The boom years of the clipper era began in 1843 in response to a growing demand for faster delivery of tea from China and continued with the demand for swift passage to gold fields in California and Australia beginning in 1848 and 1851, respectively. The era ended with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

Origin and usage of "clipper"
The etymological origin of the word clipper is uncertain, but is believed to be derived from the English language verb "to clip", which at the time meant "to run or fly swiftly".

The first application of the term "clipper", in a nautical sense, is likewise uncertain. The type known as the Baltimore clipper originated at the end of the 18th century on the eastern seaboard of the USA. At first, these fast sailing vessels were referred to as "Virginia-built" or "pilot-boat model", with the name "Baltimore-built" appearing during the War of 1812. In the final days of the slave trade (circa 1835–1850) – just as the type was dying out – the term, Baltimore clipper, became common. The common retrospective application of the word "clipper" to this type of vessel has caused confusion.

The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest quote (referring to the Baltimore clipper) is from 1824. The dictionary cites Royal Navy officer and novelist Frederick Marryat as using the term in 1830. British newspaper usage of the term can be found as early as 1832 and in shipping advertisements from 1835. A US court case of 1834 has evidence that discusses a clipper being faster than a brig.

Definitions
A clipper is a sailing vessel designed for speed, a priority that takes precedence over cargo-carrying capacity or building or operating costs. It is not restricted to any one rig (while many were fully rigged ships, others were barques, brigs, or schooners), nor was the term restricted to any one hull type. Howard Chapelle lists three basic hull types for clippers. The first was characterised by the sharp and ends found in the Baltimore clipper. The second was a hull with a full midsection and modest deadrise, but sharp ends – this was a development of the hull form of transatlantic packets. The third was more experimental, with deadrise and sharpness being balanced against the need to carry a profitable quantity of cargo. A clipper carried a large sail area and a fast hull; by the standards of any other type of sailing ship, a clipper was greatly over-canvassed. The last defining feature of a clipper, in the view of maritime historian David MacGregor, was a captain who had the courage, skill, and determination to get the fastest speed possible out of her.

In assessing the hull of a clipper, different maritime historians use different criteria to measure "sharpness", "fine lines" or "fineness", a concept which is explained by comparing a rectangular cuboid with the underwater shape of a vessel's hull. The more material one has to carve off the cuboid to achieve the hull shape, the sharper the hull. Ideally, a maritime historian would be able to look at either the block coefficient of fineness or the prismatic coefficient of various clippers, but measured drawings or accurate half models may not exist to calculate either of these figures. An alternative measure of sharpness for hulls of a broadly similar shape is the coefficient of underdeck tonnage, as used by David MacGregor in comparing tea clippers. This could be calculated from the measurements taken to determine the registered tonnage, so can be applied to more vessels.

An extreme clipper has a hull of great fineness, as judged either by the prismatic coefficient, the coefficient of underdeck tonnage, or some other technical assessment of hull shape. This term has been misapplied in the past, without reference to hull shape. As commercial vessels, these are totally reliant on speed to generate a profit for their owners, as their sharpness limits their cargo-carrying capacity.

A medium clipper has a cargo-carrying hull that has some sharpness. In the right conditions and with a capable captain, some of these achieved notable quick passages. They were also able to pay their way when the high freight rates often paid to a fast sailing ship were not available (in a fluctuating market).

The term "clipper" applied to vessels between these two categories. They often made passages as fast as extreme clippers, but had less difficulty in making a living when freight rates were lower.

History

The first ships to which the term "clipper" seems to have been applied were the Baltimore clippers, developed in the Chesapeake Bay before the American Revolution, and reached their zenith between 1795 and 1815. They were small, rarely exceeding 200 tons OM. Their hulls were sharp ended and displayed much deadrise. They were rigged as schooners, brigs, or brigantines. In the War of 1812, some were lightly armed, sailing under letters of marque and reprisal, when the type – exemplified by Chasseur, launched at Fells Point, Baltimore in 1814 – became known for her incredible speed; the deep draft enabled the Baltimore clipper to sail close to the wind. Clippers, running the British blockade of Baltimore, came to be recognized for speed rather than cargo space.

The type existed as early as 1780. A 1789 drawing of HMS Berbice (1780) – purchased by the Royal Navy in 1780 in the West Indies – represents the earliest draught of what became known as the Baltimore clipper.

Vessels of the Baltimore clipper type continued to be built for the slave trade, being useful for escaping enforcement of the British and American legislation prohibiting the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Some of these Baltimore clippers were captured when working as slavers, condemned by the appropriate court, and sold to owners who then used them as opium clippers – moving from one illegal international trade to another.

Ann McKim, built in Baltimore in 1833 by the Kennard & Williamson shipyard, is considered by  some to be the original clipper ship. (Maritime historians Howard I. Chapelle and David MacGregor decry the concept of the "first" clipper, preferring a more evolutionary, multiple-step development of the type.) She measured 494 tons OM, and was built on the enlarged lines of a Baltimore clipper, with sharply raked stem, counter stern, and square rig. Although Ann McKim was the first large clipper ship ever constructed, she cannot be said to have founded the clipper ship era, or even that she directly influenced shipbuilders, since no other ship was built like her, but she may have suggested the clipper design in vessels of ship rig. She did, however, influence the building of Rainbow in 1845, the first extreme clipper ship.

In Aberdeen, Scotland, shipbuilders Alexander Hall and Sons developed the "Aberdeen" clipper bow in the late 1830s; the first was Scottish Maid launched in 1839. Scottish Maid, 150 tons OM, was the first British clipper ship. "Scottish Maid was intended for the Aberdeen-London trade, where speed was crucial to compete with steamships. The Hall brothers tested various hulls in a water tank and found the clipper design most effective. The design was influenced by tonnage regulations. Tonnage measured a ship's cargo capacity and was used to calculate tax and harbour dues. The new 1836 regulations measured depth and breadth with length measured at half midship depth. Extra length above this level was tax-free and became a feature of clippers. Scottish Maid proved swift and reliable and the design was widely copied." The earliest British clipper ships were built for trade within the British Isles (Scottish Maid was built for the Aberdeen to London trade ). Then followed the vast clipper trade of tea, opium, spices, and other goods from the Far East to Europe, and the ships became known as "tea clippers".

From 1839, larger American clipper ships started to be built beginning with Akbar, 650 tons OM, in 1839, and including the 1844-built Houqua, 581 tons OM. These larger vessels were built predominantly for use in the China tea trade and known as "tea clippers". Then in 1845 Rainbow, 757 tons OM, the first extreme clipper, was launched in New York. These American clippers were larger vessels designed to sacrifice cargo capacity for speed. They had a bow lengthened above the water, a drawing out and sharpening of the forward body, and the greatest breadth further aft. Extreme clippers were built in the period 1845 to 1855.

In 1851, shipbuilders in Medford, Massachusetts, built what is sometimes called one of the first medium clippers, the Antelope, often called the Antelope of Boston to distinguish her from other ships of the same name. A contemporary ship-design journalist noted that "the design of her model was to combine large stowage capacity with good sailing qualities." Antelope was relatively flat-floored and had only an 8-inch deadrise at half-floor.

The medium clipper, though still very fast, could carry more cargo. After 1854, extreme clippers were replaced in American shipbuilding yards by medium clippers. The Flying Cloud was a clipper ship built in 1851 that established the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco within weeks of her launching, then broke her own records three years later, which stood at 89 days 8 hours until 1989. (The other contender for this "blue ribbon" title was the medium clipper Andrew Jackson – an unresolvable argument exists over timing these voyages "from pilot to pilot"). Flying Cloud was the most famous of the clippers built by Donald McKay. She was known for her extremely close race with the Hornet in 1853; for having a woman navigator, Eleanor Creesy, wife of Josiah Perkins Creesy, who skippered the Flying Cloud on two record-setting voyages from New York to San Francisco; and for sailing in the Australia and timber trades.

Clipper ships largely ceased being built in American shipyards in 1859 when, unlike the earlier boom years, only four clipper ships were built; a few were built in the 1860s.

British clipper ships continued to be built after 1859. From 1859, a new design was developed for British clipper ships that was nothing like the American clippers; these ships continued to be called extreme clippers. The new design had a sleek, graceful appearance, less sheer, less freeboard, lower bulwarks, and smaller breadth. They were built for the China tea trade, starting with Falcon in 1859, and continuing until 1870. The earlier ships were made from wood, though some were made from iron, just as some British clippers had been made from iron prior to 1859. In 1863, the first tea clippers of composite construction were brought out, combining the best of both worlds. Composite clippers had the strength of an iron hull framework but with wooden planking that, with properly insulated fastenings, could use copper sheathing without the problem of galvanic corrosion. Copper sheathing prevented fouling and teredo worm, but could not be used on iron hulls. The iron framework of composite clippers was less bulky and lighter, so allowing more cargo in a hull of the same external shape.

After 1869, with the opening of the Suez Canal that greatly advantaged steam vessels (see Decline below), the tea trade collapsed for clippers. From the late 1860s until the early 1870s, the clipper trade increasingly focused on the Britain to Australia and New Zealand route, carrying goods and immigrants, services that had begun earlier with the Australian Gold Rush of the 1850s. British-built clipper ships and many American-built, British-owned ships were used. Even in the 1880s, sailing ships were still the main carriers of cargo between Britain, and Australia and New Zealand. This trade eventually became unprofitable, and the ageing clipper fleet became unseaworthy.

Opium clippers
Before the early 18th century, the East India Company paid for its tea mainly in silver. When the Chinese emperor chose to embargo European-manufactured commodities and demand payment for all Chinese goods in silver, the price rose, restricting trade. The East India Company began to produce opium in India, something desired by the Chinese as much as tea was by the British. This had to be smuggled into China on smaller, fast-sailing ships, called "opium clippers". Some of these were built specifically for the purpose – mostly in India and Britain, such as the 1842-built Ariel, 100 tons OM. Some fruit schooners were bought for this trade, as were some Baltimore clippers.

China clippers and the apogee of sail
Among the most notable clippers were the China clippers, also called tea clippers, designed to ply the trade routes between Europe and the East Indies. The last example of these still in reasonable condition is Cutty Sark, preserved in dry dock at Greenwich, United Kingdom. Damaged by fire on 21 May 2007 while undergoing conservation, the ship was permanently elevated 3.0 m above the dry dock floor in 2010 as part of a plan for long-term preservation.

Clippers were built for seasonal trades such as tea, where an early cargo was more valuable, or for passenger routes. One passenger ship survives, the City of Adelaide designed by William Pile of Sunderland. The fast ships were ideally suited to low-volume, high-profit goods, such as tea, opium, spices, people, and mail. The return could be spectacular. The Challenger returned from Shanghai with "the most valuable cargo of tea and silk ever to be laden in one bottom". Competition among the clippers was public and fierce, with their times recorded in the newspapers.

The last China clippers had peak speeds over 16 kn, but their average speeds over a whole voyage were substantially less. The joint winner of the Great Tea Race of 1866 logged about 15,800 nautical miles on a 99-day trip. This gives an average speed slightly over 6.6 kn. The key to a fast passage for a tea clipper was getting across the China Sea against the monsoon winds that prevailed when the first tea crop of the season was ready. These difficult sailing conditions (light and/or contrary winds) dictated the design of tea clippers. The US clippers were designed for the strong winds encountered on their route around Cape Horn.

Donald McKay's Sovereign of the Seas reported the highest speed ever achieved by a sailing ship of the era, 22 kn, made while running her easting down to Australia in 1854. (John Griffiths' first clipper, the Rainbow, had a top speed of 14 knots.) Eleven other instances are reported of a ship's logging 18 kn or over. Ten of these were recorded by American clippers. Besides the breath-taking 465 nmi day's run of the Champion of the Seas, 13 other cases are known of a ship's sailing over 400 nmi in 24 hours. With few exceptions, though, all the port-to-port sailing records are held by the American clippers. The 24-hour record of the Champion of the Seas, set in 1854, was not broken until 1984 (by a multihull), or 2001 (by another monohull).

Decline
The American clippers sailing from the East Coast to the California goldfields were working in a booming market. Freight rates were high everywhere in the first years of the 1850s. This started to fade in late 1853. The ports of California and Australia reported that they were overstocked with goods that had been shipped earlier in the year. This gave an accelerating fall in freight rates that was halted, however, by the start of the Crimean War in March 1854, as many ships were now being chartered by the French and British governments. The end of the Crimean War in April 1856 released all this capacity back on the world shipping markets – the result being a severe slump. The next year had the Panic of 1857, with effects on both sides of the Atlantic. The United States was just starting to recover from this in 1861 when the American Civil War started, causing significant disruption to trade in both Union and Confederate states. As the economic situation deteriorated in 1853, American shipowners either did not order new vessels, or specified an ordinary clipper or a medium clipper instead of an extreme clipper. No extreme clipper was launched in an American shipyard after the end of 1854 and only a few medium clippers after 1860.

By contrast, British trade recovered well at the end of the 1850s. Tea clippers had continued to be launched during the depressed years, apparently little affected by the economic downturn. The long-distance route to China was not realistically challenged by steamships in the early part of the 1860s. No true steamer (as opposed to an auxiliary steamship) had the fuel efficiency to carry sufficient cargo to make a profitable voyage. The auxiliary steamships struggled to make any profit.

The situation changed in 1866 when the Alfred Holt-designed and owned SS Agamemnon made her first voyage to China. Holt had persuaded the Board of Trade to allow higher steam pressures in British merchant vessels. Running at 60 psi instead of the previously permitted 25 psi, and using an efficient compound engine, Agamemnon had the fuel efficiency to steam at 10 knots to China and back, with coaling stops at Mauritius on the outward and return legs – crucially carrying sufficient cargo to make a profit.

In 1869, the Suez Canal opened, giving steamships a route about 3,000 nmi shorter than that taken by sailing ships round the Cape of Good Hope. Despite initial conservatism by tea merchants, by 1871, tea clippers found strong competition from steamers in the tea ports of China. A typical passage time back to London for a steamer was 58 days, while the fastest clippers could occasionally make the trip in less than 100 days; the average was 123 days in the 1867–68 tea season. The freight rate for a steamer in 1871 was roughly double that paid to a sailing vessel. Some clipper owners were severely caught out by this; several extreme clippers had been launched in 1869, including Cutty Sark, Norman Court and Caliph.

Surviving ships
Of the many clipper ships built during the mid-19th century, only two are known to survive. The only intact survivor is Cutty Sark, which was preserved as a museum ship in 1954 at Greenwich for public display. The other known survivor is City of Adelaide; unlike Cutty Sark, she was reduced to a hulk over the years. She eventually sank at her moorings in 1991, but was raised the following year, and remained on dry land for years. Adelaide (or S.V. Carrick) is the older of the two survivors, and was transported to Australia for conservation.

In popular culture
The clipper legacy appears in collectible cards and in the name of a basketball team.

Sailing cards

Departures of clipper ships, mostly from New York and Boston to San Francisco, were advertised by clipper-ship sailing cards. These cards, slightly larger than today's postcards, were produced by letterpress and wood engraving on coated card stock. Most clipper cards were printed in the 1850s and 1860s, and represented the first pronounced use of color in American advertising art. Perhaps 3,500 cards survive. With their rarity and importance as artifacts of nautical, Western, and printing history, clipper cards are valued by both private collectors and institutions.

Basketball team
The Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association take their name from the type of ship. After the Buffalo Braves moved to San Diego, California in 1978, a contest was held to choose a new name. The winning name highlighted the city's connection with the clippers that frequented San Diego Bay. The team retained the name in its 1984 move to Los Angeles.

Airliners
The airline Pan Am named its aircraft beginning with the word 'Clipper' and used Clipper as its callsign. This was intended to evoke an image of speed and glamour.

People associated with clipper ships

 * List of people who sailed on clipper ships
 * Joseph Warren Holmes
 * Samuel Hartt Pook
 * William Jardine
 * Donald McKay
 * John (or "Jock") "White Hat" Willis

Overview and introduction

 * – Beautifully illustrated introduction, by a member of Donald McKay's family
 * – Basic reading, a favorite of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
 * Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820–1890, digitized source materials from Mystic Seaport, via Library of Congress American Memory
 * Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820–1890, digitized source materials from Mystic Seaport, via Library of Congress American Memory

American clipper ships

 * – The definitive narrative history, useful for checking discrepancies between sources
 * – The comprehensive reference for design and construction of American-built clipper ships, with numerous drawings, diagrams, and charts. Gives examples of how each design feature varies in different ships.
 * Articles on individual ships, broader coverage than Crothers

Clipper ships by type

 * – British and Australian clippers
 * – One of the few comprehensive books on these ships
 * – One of the few comprehensive books on these ships
 * – One of the few comprehensive books on these ships

title: Clipper


text:
Clive Anderson

Clive Stuart Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is an English television and radio presenter, comedian, writer, and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts during his 15-year legal career, before becoming host of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, initially a radio show on BBC Radio 4 in 1988, before moving to television on Channel 4 from 1988 to 1999. He was also host of his own chat show Clive Anderson Talks Back, which changed its name to Clive Anderson All Talk in 1996, from 1989 to 1999. He has also hosted many radio programmes, and made guest appearances on Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week and QI.

Early life
Anderson's mother was English and his parents met while serving in the RAF. He was educated at Stanburn Primary School and Harrow County School for Boys then a grammar school which closed in 1975. His group of contemporaries included Geoffrey Perkins and Michael Portillo. His Scottish father originally from Glasgow was promoted to manager of the Bradford & Bingley Building Society, Wembley branch. Anderson attended Selwyn College, Cambridge, where, from 1974 to 1975, he was President of the Cambridge Footlights. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1976 and became a practising barrister, specialising in criminal law. While still practising law, he continued performing, including taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe in 1981 with Griff Rhys Jones.

Television
Anderson was involved in the fledgling alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s and was the first act to appear at The Comedy Store when it opened in 1979. He made his name as host of the original UK version of the improvised television comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which ran for 10 series on Channel 4 from 1988 to 1999.

Anderson hosted his own chat show Clive Anderson Talks Back, which ran for 10 series on Channel 4 from 1989 to 1996. The show then moved to the BBC, with the name changed to Clive Anderson All Talk, running for 4 series from 1996 to 1999. In one incident in 1997, Anderson interviewed the Bee Gees. Throughout the interview, he repeatedly joked about their songs from the Saturday Night Fever era, and when discussing the names the band had before becoming 'The Bee Gees', one of them was 'Les Tosseurs', with Anderson's comment, "You'll always be les tossers to me", ultimately prompting the band to walk out of the interview. Anderson once had a glass of water poured over his head by a perturbed Richard Branson, to which Anderson remarked "I'm used to that; I've flown Virgin". When singer and actress Cher appeared on the show, Anderson alluded to her alleged cosmetic surgery, asking her "You look like a million dollars – is that how much it cost?" He also said to author and politician Jeffrey Archer, in response to his derogatory comment about the show, "You're a critic too... there's no beginning to your talents". Archer retorted that "The old ones are always the best" for Anderson to reply "Yes, I've read your books".

He has made ten appearances on Have I Got News for You. In 1996, a heated exchange occurred on the show when he joked to fellow guest Piers Morgan that the Daily Mirror was now, thanks to Morgan (then its editor), almost as good as The Sun. When asked by Morgan, "What do you know about editing newspapers?" he swiftly replied "About as much as you do". Anderson has also frequently appeared on QI. In 2007, he featured as a regular panellist on the ITV comedy show News Knight. From 2019 to 2020 he co-hosted the television series Mystic Britain on the Sky television channel Smithsonian.

In 2005, he presented the short-lived quiz Back in the Day for Channel 4. On 25 February 2008, he started to present Brainbox Challenge, a new game show, for BBC Two. Later that year, he presented a talent show-themed reality TV series produced by the BBC entitled Maestro, starring eight celebrities. In 2009, Anderson was the television host of the BBC's Last Night of the Proms.

In November 2023, Anderson appeared on TV game show Richard Osman's House of Games, winning the show by one point.

Radio
Anderson presents legal show Unreliable Evidence on BBC Radio 4. He also covered the Sunday morning 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. show on BBC Radio 2 until the end of January 2008.

In early 1988, Anderson hosted the original radio version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which ran for 6 episodes on BBC Radio 4 before the show moved to television later that year.

It was announced in April 2008 that Anderson, who had previously filled in for host Ned Sherrin from 2006 until Sherrin's death in 2007, would be taking over as permanent host of Loose Ends. He also hosted six series of Clive Anderson's Chat Room on BBC Radio 2 from 2004 to 2009. Anderson has appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Unbelievable Truth hosted by David Mitchell.

Anderson also presented the radio show The Guessing Game on BBC Radio Scotland. Anderson has also appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live's Fighting Talk.

Comedy and newspaper writing
Anderson is a comedy sketch writer who has written for Frankie Howerd, Not the Nine O'Clock News, and Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith. One of his early comedy writing projects was Black Cinderella Two Goes East with Rory McGrath for BBC Radio 4 in 1978. As well as writing comedy, Anderson is also a frequent contributor to newspapers and was a regular columnist for The Sunday Correspondent.

Personal life
Anderson lives in Highbury, north London, with his consultant wife, Jane Anderson, a physician who has spent her career in managing HIV/AIDS. The couple have three children.

He supports Arsenal, and Rangers football teams. He is President of the Woodland Trust and became Vice Patron of the Solicitors' Benevolent Association, a registered charity.

Awards
The show Whose Line is it Anyway? won a BAFTA award in 1990. Later, Anderson won both the "Top Entertainment Presenter" and "Top Radio Comedy Personality" at the British Comedy Awards in 1991. In 2023 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge.

title: Clive Anderson