Lidar remote sensing provides spatially explicit 3-dimensional information about ecosystem structure. While 3-dimensional ecosystem structure has long been recognized as important for characterizing and modeling wildlife habitat (MacArthur and MacArthur, 1961), investigations into the relationship between lidar-derived habitat information and animal communities are just beginning to be published (Vierling et al., 2008). The goal of this special session is for senior-level, junior-level, and graduate student scientists to present research that explicitly examines relationships between lidar-derived habitat data and fundamental questions of biodiversity, animal occupancy modeling, and animal habitat use. This special session is important and timely given 1) the growing number of lidar acquisitions available to scientists across the country, 2) the recognition of spatial scale as an important variable to incorporate into ecological studies, and 3) the need for interdisciplinary approaches to solve management and conservation issues. References: MacArthur R and MacArthur JW. 1961. On bird species diversity. Ecology 42: 594–98. Vierling, K. T., Vierling, L. A., Gould, W., Martinuzzi, S., Clawges, R. (2008). Lidar: Shedding new light on habitat characterization and modeling. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6(2): 90-98.