Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion in the State of Colorado

The Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) is a partnership between NASA and The US Geological Survey (USGS). The ISFS combines NASA Earth observations and statistical models to enhance USGS capabilities to map, monitor and predict the spread of significant invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the state of California. Tamarisk spreads quickly along riverbeds and when its leaves shed, they secrete salt on the soil, which can hinder other plant growth. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable for Tamarisk growth. Yellow indicates areas which are less suitable, and gray are areas which are not suitable. The study used field surveys of species richness, one 30m spatial resolution Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) image, and a three year time-series of 250m spatial resolution Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) imagery over three sites. Actual tamarisk presence data from the field surveys are shown in green.