Sampson, B.A. & Delgiudice, G.D. Tracking the Rapid Pace of GIS-Related Capabilities and Their Accessibility. Wildlife Society Bulletin 34, 1446-1454 (2006).

 This paper categorizes advances in GIS capabilities between 1990-2005 as they apply to the study and management of wildlife, as applied to a long term data set on white-tailed deer.  The authors catalogue the ways in which they have employed GIS technology in the past, new applications that they found to be germane to their branch of research or methods of analysis and stumbling blocks they have experienced related to using GIS in the wildlife field and possibilities of avoiding these in the readers own work.  A detailed time line of their use of GIS programs gives the newcomer to ArcGIS a feel for the incredible advances that have been made possible in the last 20 years.  Additionally, Table 3 is a list of ArcGIS extensions, created by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and available for download, that are relevant to wildlife analysis; the table lists them by name and gives a brief description, while the text goes in to more detail about their applicability.  They also list other internet resources for ArcGIS tools, extensions and datasets that are publically available.  This paper is invaluable to me as a source of possible tools to enhance my own analyses.  It will also help me from making common mistakes that may slow my progress toward completion of my degree.