Putting the health in hidden Markov models: incorporating allostatic load indices into movement ecology analyses.

ABSTRACT: Individual animal health assessments are a key consideration for conservation initiatives. Environmental shifts associated with climate change, such as documented rises in pathogen emergence, predation pressures and human activities, create an increasingly stressful world for many species and have been linked with marked changes in movement behaviour. Even in healthy individuals, variations in allostatic load, the cumulative effects of long-term stress, may alter behavioural priorities over time. Here, we aimed to build links between animal health assessment information and movement ecology, using narwhals in the Canadian Arctic as a case study. A composite stress index was developed to incorporate multiple available health (e.g. health assessments), stress (e.g. hormones) and body conditi

SUBMITTER: Shuert CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11991693 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature