Wildlife health assessments help identify populations at risk of starvation, disease, and decline from anthropogenic impacts on natural habitats. We conducted an overview of available health assessment studies in noncaptive vertebrates and devised a framework to strategically integrate health assessments in population monitoring. Using a systematic approach, we performed a thorough assessment of studies examining multiple health parameters of noncaptive vertebrate species from 1982 to 2020 (n = 261 studies). We quantified trends in study design and diagnostic methods across taxa with generalized linear models, bibliometric analyses, and visual representations of study location versus biodiversity hotspots. Only 35% of studies involved international or cross-border collaboration. Countries with both high and threatened biodiversity were greatly underrepresented. Species that were not listed as threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List represented 49% of assessed species, a trend likely associated with the regional focus of most studies. We strongly suggest following wildlife health assessment protocols when planning a study and using statistically adequate sample sizes for studies establishing reference ranges. Across all taxa blood analysis (89%), body composition assessments (81%), physical examination (72%), and fecal analyses (24% of studies) were the most common methods. A conceptual framework to improve design and standardize wildlife health assessments includes guidelines on the experimental design, data acquisition and analysis, and species conservation planning and management implications. Integrating a physiological and ecological understanding of species resilience toward threatening processes will enable informed decision making regarding the conservation of threatened species.

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健康评估对非圈养野生动物保护的重要性

野生动物健康评估有助于识别因人为对自然栖息地的影响而面临饥饿、疾病和衰退风险的人群。我们对非圈养脊椎动物的可用健康评估研究进行了概述，并设计了一个框架，将健康评估战略性地整合到人口监测中。我们使用系统的方法，对 1982 年至 2020 年间非圈养脊椎动物物种的多个健康参数的研究进行了全面评估（n= 261 项研究）。我们通过广义线性模型、文献计量分析以及研究位置与生物多样性热点的视觉表示来量化跨类群的研究设计和诊断方法的趋势。只有 35% 的研究涉及国际或跨境合作。生物多样性高和受威胁的国家的代表性严重不足。在国际自然保护联盟红色名录中未被列为受威胁的物种占评估物种的 49%，这一趋势可能与大多数研究的区域重点有关。我们强烈建议在计划研究时遵循野生动物健康评估协议，并使用统计上足够的样本量来建立参考范围的研究。在所有分类群血液分析 (89%)、身体成分评估 (81%)、体格检查（72%）和粪便分析（24% 的研究）是最常见的方法。改进设计和标准化野生动物健康评估的概念框架包括关于实验设计、数据采集和分析以及物种保护规划和管理影响的指南。将物种对威胁过程的复原力的生理和生态理解结合起来，将使有关受威胁物种保护的知情决策成为可能。