Climate
During 1988, mean maximum temperature ranged from 20.9° Celsius (C) in January to 47.8°C in May, while the mean temperature varied from 6.8°C in December to 26.5°C in June. The diurnal temperature variation ranged from 5°C in January to 50°C in May. Mean relatively humidity varied from 62% in March to 83.3% in December. The mean annual precipitation is 662 millimeters (mm), with rain falling on an average of 36 days per year. During 1988 only 395mm of rain fell during 32 wet days.
Local observers have noted the shrinking of habitat for aquatic plant species in the Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, northern India, after a number of years of drought and upstream water abstraction. The Keoladeo Naturalists Society invited U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research ecologist Beth Middleton to visit the park to make observations of aquatic species of concern (Technical Assistance Agreement T-09-763b). The Keoladeo Naturalists Society (a.k.a. "The Barefoot Naturalists") is a group of local nature guides and rickshaw pullers. Middleton is a researcher who studies the impact of climate change, drought, and hurricanes on coastal wetlands; because of this expertise, she was asked to look at the impact of droughts on the Keoladeo National Park wetlands. Middleton did her Ph.D. research in India 20 years previously, so she was familiar with the park under conditions of more normal flooding. Upon her return in April 2009, the park looked very different after several years of drought. The aquatic areas of the park appeared to be smaller than during the 1980s; however, at least one positive observation is that park managers have enlisted local villagers to remove the invasive mesquite plant, Prosopis juliflora, within upland savanna habitats.
Read more about this topic: Keoladeo National Park
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