Washita Battlefield National Historic Site

When the climate changes enough, the vegetation communities growing in any given place will also change. Under an expanded bimodal climate zone, some plant communities in western national parks are more likely to change than others. National Park Service ecologists and partners investigated the future conditions that may force some of this change. Having this information can help park managers decide whether to resist, direct, or accept the change.

Both the Clean Air Act and the National Park Service Organic Act protect air resources in national parks. Park resources affected by air quality include scenery and vistas, vegetation, water, and wildlife. Over the past three decades, the National Park Service has developed several internal and cooperative programs for monitoring various measures of air quality.

Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.

Climate change may have direct and/or indirect effects on many elements of Southern Plains network ecosystems, from streams and grasslands to fires and birds.

At Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, Southern Plains Network scientists take measurements of key resources and weather. We analyze temperature, precipitation, and drought indices to determine how local climate is changing and to better understand its effect on natural resources at the park. This report summarizes Water Year 2024 climate and weather data at the park.

Climate is one of many ecological indicators monitored by the National Park Service (NPS) Division of Inventory & Monitoring (I&M). Climate data help scientists to understand ecosystem processes and help to explain many of the patterns and trends observed in other natural-resource monitoring. In NPS units of the American Southwest, three I&M networks monitor climate using the scientific protocol described here.

At Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, Southern Plains Network scientists take measurements of key resources and weather. We analyze temperature, precipitation, and drought indices to determine how local climate is changing and to better understand its effect on natural resources at the park. This report summarizes Water Year 2022 climate and weather data at the park. Temperatures were generally warmer and drier than previous averages.

At Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, Southern Plains Network scientists take measurements of key resources and weather. We analyze temperature, precipitation, and drought indices to determine how local climate is changing and to better understand its effect on natural resources at the park. This report summarizes Water Year 2023 climate and weather data at the park.