The combined effects of multiple stressors in an endangered, long-lived species: Lessons learned and ways forward.

ABSTRACT: Exploring solutions to expanding industrial activities and climate change requires assessments of the combined effects of multiple stressors on wildlife populations. We present a spatially explicit state-space model for the health, survival, reproduction, and somatic growth of individuals in a long-lived, wide-ranging species. The model is applied to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) to investigate the combined effects of three primary stressors affecting the species' viability: entanglements in fishing gear, vessel strikes, and prey availability. We estimate exposure to these stressors in space and time and assess how their effects may combine in the pathway from exposure to vital rates. Results suggest that changes in whale distribution after 2010 le

SUBMITTER: Pirotta E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12683700 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature