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Annual Ranges of Mule Deer in the Rainbow Valley Herd in Arizona

The Rainbow Valley mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) reside in the expansive Sonoran Desert flat between the Sierra Estrella Mountains and the North Maricopa Mountains. The herd, which numbered 1,500 in 2017, is managed for hunting within Game Management Units (GMU) 39 and 40. The movements depicted in this report represent annual range for 3 mule deer which are part of a much larger research project along the Interstate 11 (I-11) Proposed Corridor Alternative. The research is being conducted by the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), with funding from the U.S. Department of the Interior through Secretarial Order 3362. Although the Rainbow Valley mule deer are not migratory in the traditional sense, their annual patterns show substantial 15-20 mile movements throughout this desert valley. These movements are likely occurring in response to seasonally variable food and water sources. AZGFD recognizes the potential for future research and conservation opportunities across the landscapes traversed by the entire I-11 study area. For example, understanding mule deer movement pathways will be essential in the effort to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts of I-11 if it is constructed. AZGFD is a Cooperating Agency for Arizona Department of Transportation’s (ADOT) tiered impact study for I-11 and has been working to understand the potential impacts that the proposed I-11 highway would have on wildlife, if constructed. The timelines associated with ongoing movement studies and road design will allow AZGFD to analyze current data, and provide ADOT with robust input on corridor routes to aid in the design of specific mitigation measures and improvements for wildlife connectivity. These data provide the location of annual ranges for mule deer from the Rainbow Valley Herd in Arizona. They were developed from 6 annual sequences collected from a sample size of 3 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 3 hours.

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Author(s) Matthew J Kauffman orcid, Blake H Lowrey orcid, Jeffrey Beck, Jodi Berg orcid, Scott Bergen, Joel Berger orcid, James W Cain orcid, Sarah Dewey, Jennifer Diamond, Orrin Duvuvuei, Julien Fattebert orcid, Jeff Gagnon, Julie Garcia, Evan Greenspan orcid, Embere Hall, Glenn Harper, Stan Harter, Kent Hersey, Pat Hnilicka, Mark Hurley, Lee Knox, Art Lawson, Eric Maichak, James Meacham, Jerod Merkle orcid, Arthur Middleton, Daniel Olson, Lucas Olson, Craig Reddell, Benjamin S Robb orcid, Gabe Rozman, Hall Sawyer orcid, Cody Schroeder, Brandon Scurlock orcid, Jeff Short, Scott Sprague, Alethea Steingisser, Nicole Tatman
Publication Date 2022-04-07
Beginning Date of Data 2019
Ending Date of Data 2022
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DOI https://doi.org/10.5066/P9TKA3L8
Citation Kauffman, M.J., Lowrey, B.H., Beck, J., Berg, J., Bergen, S., Berger, J., Cain, J.W., Dewey, S., Diamond, J., Duvuvuei, O., Fattebert, J., Gagnon, J., Garcia, J., Greenspan, E., Hall, E., Harper, G., Harter, S., Hersey, K., Hnilicka, P., Hurley, M., Knox, L., Lawson, A., Maichak, E., Meacham, J., Merkle, J., Middleton, A., Olson, D., Olson, L., Reddell, C., Robb, B.S., Rozman, G., Sawyer, H., Schroeder, C., Scurlock, B., Short, J., Sprague, S., Steingisser, A., and Tatman, N., 2022, Annual Ranges of Mule Deer in the Rainbow Valley Herd in Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9TKA3L8.
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Metadata Date 2022-04-07
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License http://www.usa.gov/publicdomain/label/1.0/
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Harvest Source: ScienceBase
Harvest Date: 2024-07-24T04:01:55.917Z