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Determining Basal Energy Expenditure and the Capacity of Thermogenic Adipocytes to Expend Energy in Obese Mice
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Fluctuating selection on basal metabolic rate.

Johan F Nilsson1, Jan-Åke Nilsson1

  • 1Department of Biology, Evolutionary Ecology Lund University Ecology Building SE-223 62 Lund Sweden.

Ecology and Evolution
|February 4, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Winter basal metabolic rate (BMR) impacts blue tit survival, with selection varying by climate. Colder winters favor higher BMR, while milder winters favor lower BMR, influencing life-history strategies.

Keywords:
Basal metabolic ratefluctuating selectionmetabolic strategywinter survival

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Area of Science:

  • * Animal physiology and life history evolution.
  • * Ecology and behavioral biology.

Background:

  • * Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is crucial for animal energy budgets, sustainable work, and thermoregulation.
  • * While causes of BMR variation are studied, fitness consequences of metabolic strategies remain less understood.
  • * BMR variation in wild populations is significant but its adaptive significance is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • * To investigate the fitness consequences of winter basal metabolic rate (BMR) on survival in wild blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus).
  • * To explore how varying environmental conditions, specifically winter climate, influence selection pressures on BMR.
  • * To understand the implications of fluctuating selection on BMR for life-history strategies and population-level adaptations.

Main Methods:

  • * Field study of a wild blue tit population.
  • * Monitoring of local survival rates in relation to individual BMR measurements during winter.
  • * Analysis of BMR-survival relationships across years with differing winter climate conditions.

Main Results:

  • * Winter BMR significantly affects local survival in blue tits, but the direction of selection fluctuates annually.
  • * Survival is positively related to BMR during cold, harsh winters and negatively related during mild winters.
  • * Fluctuating selection on BMR is linked to varying winter climate conditions.

Conclusions:

  • * Varying winter climate drives fluctuating selection on BMR, explaining pronounced BMR variation in wild populations.
  • * Energy turnover rates significantly shape animal life-history strategies.
  • * Global warming may impose directional selection for reduced BMR, altering population-level life-history strategies.