Drone images help monitor for invasive beetle in Palau

The invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle has damaged at least 25% of Guam’s coconut trees, the Guam Department of Agriculture’s Biosecurity Division estimates. About 800 miles away, officials in the Micronesian island Palau are looking for efficient ways to monitor this invasive pest. They’re seeking to prevent a resurgence that could devastate the economy and livelihoods that rely on native coconut palms.

A University of Guam graduate student studying sustainable agriculture and natural resources focused her master’s thesis at the University of Guam’s Western Pacific Tropic Research Center on protecting Palau from the pesky beetle. A team of students and research faculty involved with the Pacific Island Climate Adaptation Science Center, NASA Guam Space Grant and the NASA Guam Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Grant worked together to deploy drones and capture aerial images from six sites.

The drones took images which the researchers then used to piece together a dataset of maps to help Palau officials and natural resource managers determine which sites are most vulnerable to the coconut rhinoceros beetle and to look into what control methods are effective to combat it.

View the full statement on the NIDB.

Photo courtesy of the University of Guam Western Pacific Tropical Research Center.