Evidence for a maintenance cost for birds maintaining highly flexible basal, but not summit, metabolic rates
Abstract Reversible phenotypic flexibility allows organisms to better match phenotypes to prevailing environmental conditions and may produce fitness benefits. Costs and constraints of phenotypic flexibility may limit the capacity for flexible responses but are not well understood nor documented. Co...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36218-w |
| _version_ | 1797811569183162368 |
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| author | David L. Swanson Maria Stager François Vézina Jin-Song Liu Andrew E. McKechnie Reza Goljani Amirkhiz |
| author_facet | David L. Swanson Maria Stager François Vézina Jin-Song Liu Andrew E. McKechnie Reza Goljani Amirkhiz |
| author_sort | David L. Swanson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Reversible phenotypic flexibility allows organisms to better match phenotypes to prevailing environmental conditions and may produce fitness benefits. Costs and constraints of phenotypic flexibility may limit the capacity for flexible responses but are not well understood nor documented. Costs could include expenses associated with maintaining the flexible system or with generating the flexible response. One potential cost of maintaining a flexible system is an energetic cost reflected in the basal metabolic rate (BMR), with elevated BMR in individuals with more flexible metabolic responses. We accessed data from thermal acclimation studies of birds where BMR and/or Msum (maximum cold-induced metabolic rate) were measured before and after acclimation, as a measure of metabolic flexibility, to test the hypothesis that flexibility in BMR (ΔBMR), Msum (ΔMsum), or metabolic scope (Msum − BMR; ΔScope) is positively correlated with BMR. When temperature treatments lasted at least three weeks, three of six species showed significant positive correlations between ΔBMR and BMR, one species showed a significant negative correlation, and two species showed no significant correlation. ΔMsum and BMR were not significantly correlated for any species and ΔScope and BMR were significantly positively correlated for only one species. These data suggest that support costs exist for maintaining high BMR flexibility for some bird species, but high flexibility in Msum or metabolic scope does not generally incur elevated maintenance costs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:24:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c12923e8b04b44a6bf14b92b11228b51 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:24:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-c12923e8b04b44a6bf14b92b11228b512023-06-04T11:27:31ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-06-011311910.1038/s41598-023-36218-wEvidence for a maintenance cost for birds maintaining highly flexible basal, but not summit, metabolic ratesDavid L. Swanson0Maria Stager1François Vézina2Jin-Song Liu3Andrew E. McKechnie4Reza Goljani Amirkhiz5Department of Biology, University of South DakotaDepartment of Biology, University of MassachusettsDépartement de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec à RimouskiSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, Wenzhou UniversityDST‑NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of PretoriaDepartment of Biology, University of South DakotaAbstract Reversible phenotypic flexibility allows organisms to better match phenotypes to prevailing environmental conditions and may produce fitness benefits. Costs and constraints of phenotypic flexibility may limit the capacity for flexible responses but are not well understood nor documented. Costs could include expenses associated with maintaining the flexible system or with generating the flexible response. One potential cost of maintaining a flexible system is an energetic cost reflected in the basal metabolic rate (BMR), with elevated BMR in individuals with more flexible metabolic responses. We accessed data from thermal acclimation studies of birds where BMR and/or Msum (maximum cold-induced metabolic rate) were measured before and after acclimation, as a measure of metabolic flexibility, to test the hypothesis that flexibility in BMR (ΔBMR), Msum (ΔMsum), or metabolic scope (Msum − BMR; ΔScope) is positively correlated with BMR. When temperature treatments lasted at least three weeks, three of six species showed significant positive correlations between ΔBMR and BMR, one species showed a significant negative correlation, and two species showed no significant correlation. ΔMsum and BMR were not significantly correlated for any species and ΔScope and BMR were significantly positively correlated for only one species. These data suggest that support costs exist for maintaining high BMR flexibility for some bird species, but high flexibility in Msum or metabolic scope does not generally incur elevated maintenance costs.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36218-w |
| spellingShingle | David L. Swanson Maria Stager François Vézina Jin-Song Liu Andrew E. McKechnie Reza Goljani Amirkhiz Evidence for a maintenance cost for birds maintaining highly flexible basal, but not summit, metabolic rates Scientific Reports |
| title | Evidence for a maintenance cost for birds maintaining highly flexible basal, but not summit, metabolic rates |
| title_full | Evidence for a maintenance cost for birds maintaining highly flexible basal, but not summit, metabolic rates |
| title_fullStr | Evidence for a maintenance cost for birds maintaining highly flexible basal, but not summit, metabolic rates |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence for a maintenance cost for birds maintaining highly flexible basal, but not summit, metabolic rates |
| title_short | Evidence for a maintenance cost for birds maintaining highly flexible basal, but not summit, metabolic rates |
| title_sort | evidence for a maintenance cost for birds maintaining highly flexible basal but not summit metabolic rates |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36218-w |
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