Satellite keeps an eye on beetles

摘要

SALT LAKE CITY – In the early nine-teenth century, a small Eurasian tree wasimported into the US for ornamental useand erosion control. Known as a tamariskor saltcedar, this tree is considered an in-vasive species by the National Park Serv-ice because it has overtaken large sectionsof riparian lands in the Southwest, chok-ing out native species. A few years ago, to combat thetamarisk, scientists released saltcedar leafbeetles (Diorhabda elongata) importedfrom Kazakhstan into regions where the time. They selected NASA satellite im-agery for their study because the agencyprovides the data at low cost.