Detailed report of the development of a satellite model utilizing flycatcher breeding territory data from six states as well as five years of tamarisk beetle defoliation data from the Lower Virgin River. Change detection showed a large shift in predicted habitat due to drought. A spatially explicit analysis showed a 94% decrease in predicted flycatcher habitat due to beetle defoliation on the Lower Virgin River. However, the model predicts that after beetle defoliation 64% and 45% of habitat will remain in the Lower Colorado and Gila River systems respectively.
Hatten, J.R., 2016, A satellite model of Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) breeding habitat and a simulation of potential effects of tamarisk leaf beetles (Diorhabda spp.), Southwestern United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1120, 88 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161120.