Using lidar to depict the influence of the tamarisk beetle on tamarisk

Panels A and B are high resolution, multispectral imagery at the Kanab Creek confluence with the Colorado River in Grand Canyon showing dense stands of tamarisk vegetation that was green and healthy in May 2009 (panel A), but brown and defoliated in May 2013 due to herbivory by the tamarisk beetle (panel B). Panel C shows a lidar and multispectral image-based classification of tamarisk defoliation (“Tamarisk Decline” in legend) due to the tamarisk beetle along the Colorado River in Glen Canyon.