Variation in movement patterns of mule deer: have we oversimplified migration?

Background: Conservation and management of migratory animals has gained attention in recent years, but the majority of research has focused on stereotypical 'migrant' and 'resident' behaviors, often failing to incorporate any atypical behaviors or characterize migratory behaviors beyond distance and timing of the migration. With migration threatened by anthropogenic development and climate change, it is crucial that we understand the full range of migratory behaviors. Our objective was to demonstrate and characterize the variation in migration strategies, including typical and atypical migratory behaviors for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in Utah, USA.

Habitat use and social mixing between groups of resident and augmented bighorn sheep.

Monitoring dispersal, habitat use, and social mixing of released ungulates is crucial for successful translocation and species conservation. We monitored 127 female bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) released in three populations from 2000 to 2009 to investigate if augmented bighorns expanded and shifted seasonal ranges, used different habitat compared with resident females, and if animals mixed socially. Augmented bighorns in all populations expanded range use compared with residents by shifting utilization distributions.

Monitoring wildlife-vehicle collisions in the information age: how smartphones can improve data collection.

Background: Currently there is a critical need for accurate and standardized wildlife-vehicle collision data, because it is the underpinning of mitigation projects that protect both drivers and wildlife. Gathering data can be challenging because wildlife-vehicle collisions occur over broad areas, during all seasons of the year, and in large numbers. Collecting data of this magnitude requires an efficient data collection system.

SmartQuery: context-sensitive links to medical knowledge sources from the electronic patient record.

Physicians have many unmet information needs that arise in the course of patient care. Many clinical questions could potentially be answered by streamlined access to medical literature, textbooks, and clinical guidelines in the context of the electronic medical record. We designed and implemented SmartQuery, a prototype application to provide context-sensitive links from an electronic patient record to relevant medical knowledge sources, then performed a preliminary user evaluation.