Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42422971›Full record

ReviewEcology letters2026

Including Fitness and Health Proxies Can Alter Our Understanding of Habitat Selection.

Marie Auger-Méthé, Fanny Dupont, Alyssa Eby, Kyle H Elliott, Nigel E Hussey, Devin A Lyons, Marianne Marcoux, Allison Patterson, Shabnam Shadloo, Courtney R Shuert

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Ecology letters, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Marie Auger-MéthéInstitute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3550-4930
Fanny DupontDepartment of Statistics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Alyssa EbyDepartment of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Kyle H ElliottDepartment of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Nigel E HusseyDepartment of Biology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada.
Devin A LyonsFaculty of Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Marianne MarcouxFisheries and Oceans Canada, Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Allison PattersonEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, Wildlife Research Division, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Shabnam ShadlooInstitute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Courtney R ShuertAssiniboine Park Conservancy, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Funding

British Columbia Knowledge Development FundCanada Foundation for Innovation 37715Canada Research ChairsEnvironment and Climate Change CanadaFisheries and Oceans CanadaNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada RGPIN-2020-04629Nunavut Implementation FundNunavut Wildlife Management BoardPolar Continental Shelf ProgramWorld Wildlife Fund Canada
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Habitat selection analyses, which discern the environmental conditions individuals select, often inform conservation planning. Through a literature review, we demonstrate that recent habitat selection studies rarely include fitness and health information. With a simulation study, we show that ignoring such information could support the protection of sink habitats. Our case studies demonstrate how health and fitness proxies can modify our understanding of habitat selection: (1) incorporating mass gain of thick-billed murres shows the energetic benefit of areas deemed secondary by a naive resource selection function; (2) including number of chicks in a step selection function (SSF) exposes the complex relationships glaucous-winged gulls have with landscapes impacted by humans; and (3) including external signs of trauma in the movement kernel of SSFs demonstrates other ways in which narwhal distribution can be altered. We urge movement ecologists to collect and use health and fitness data to improve ecological inference and conservation action.

Indexed as

CharadriiformesConservation of Natural ResourcesEcosystemGenetic FitnessAnimalsModels, Biologicalanimal movementconservationfitnessGPShabitat qualityhabitat selection analysishealthmanagementresource selection functionstep selection function

Identifiers

PMID42422971
PMCPMC13347284

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.