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Drought in East Africa

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These Landsat images show Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve on December 4, 1994, a year with normal rainfall, and November 27, 2009, a year when the rains failed and a severe drought overtook the land. The image to the right clearly shows that the only thriving vegetation is in small patches close to the larger rivers and streams; much of the remaining land is completely barren. The year 2009 saw massive mortality among Kenya's wildlife, affecting nearly all species; only the vultures did well. Normal variation in rainfall has always produced periodic drought in Kenya. But in recent years drought has been more frequent and more severe, and is expected to intensify in the future, thanks to climate change. Together with rapid growth of the human population and poaching, drought poses a grave threat to Kenya’s wildlife.
Temporal and geographic description This is a portion of the Masai Mara Reserve in southern Kenya, along the Talek River, near the border with Tanzania. The images cover an area of about nine miles in each direction, and were collected by Landsat on December 4, 1994 and November 27, 2009.
Format
Primary or BEN resource type
Discipline Specific Core Concepts
Life science discipline (subject)
Keywords drought, habitat, rainfall, precipitation, wildlife, climate change, Kenya, Africa
Audience
Intended End User Role
Language
Educational Language
Pedagogical Use Category
Pedagogical Use Description These images could be used to illustrate drought and habitat loss associated with altered precipitation regimes. Students will gain a visceral understanding of the impact of drought on large-scale habitat, the vulnerability of prey species that must graze in restricted vegetation patches, and the effect of poaching of older, larger individuals in species such as elephants where the knowledge of older generations as to water availability is of crucial importance to the herd.
Aggregation Level
Structure
Full Name of Primary Author Patricia Hackbarth
Primary Author Controlled Name
Primary Author Affiliation www.scenechanges.org
Primary Author email pat@scenechanges.org
Added By Id
  • pathackbarth
Submitter Name Patricia Hackbarth
Submitter Email pathackbarth@earthlink.net
Rights Copyright 2010 by Patricia Hackbarth
License
Publisher
Review type
Drought and Water Ecosystem Services Collection Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection Off
Big Data Collection Off
Editors Choice No
Resource Status
Date Of Record Submission 2012-08-20
I Agree to EcoEdDL's Copyright Policy & Terms of Use No
Date Of Record Release 2012-09-17 10:14:08
Last Modified By Id
  • mcmilla
Date Last Modified 2012-09-17 10:14:08
Release Flag Published

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