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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- University of Utah researchers say more should be done to track the effects of releasing beetles to control non-native tamarisk in Utah and elsewhere.
Geography professor Philip Dennison says satellite images could be used to watch for unintended consequences in the multistate experiment.
Tamarisk arrived in North America in the late 1800s and was used for windbreaks, erosion control and as landscape decoration.
But since then, it has flourished out of control in some places, especially along rivers and streams where it sucks water and kills many native species.
Millions of tamarisk-eating beetles have been released in recent years in the hopes of keeping it under control.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
