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Sources of variation in winter basal metabolic rate in the great tit

  1. J. BROGGI1,*,
  2. E. HOHTOLA1,
  3. K. KOIVULA1,
  4. M. ORELL1,
  5. R. L. THOMSON1,
  6. J.-Å. NILSSON2

Article first published online: 16 MAR 2007

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01255.x

Issue

Functional Ecology

Functional Ecology

Volume 21, Issue 3, pages 528–533, June 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

BROGGI, J., HOHTOLA, E., KOIVULA, K., ORELL, M., THOMSON, R. L. and NILSSON, J.-Å. (2007), Sources of variation in winter basal metabolic rate in the great tit. Functional Ecology, 21: 528–533. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01255.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Biology, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland, and

  2. 2

    Department of Ecology, Animal Ecology, University of Lund, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden

* †Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Juli.Broggi@oulu.fi

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 16 MAR 2007
  2. Article first published online: 16 MAR 2007
  3. Received 26 December 2006; revised 29 January 2007; accepted 30 January 2007 Editor: Francisco Božinović

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Keywords:

  • BMR;
  • parus major;
  • energetics;
  • interpopulation comparison;
  • age

Summary

  • 1
    Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the most widely used standard measurement of the cost of living. Despite the acknowledged phenotypic flexibility of BMR, little is known about the patterns of variation in wild animal populations.
  • 2
    We studied the sources of variation in BMR of great tit Parus major (L.) among individuals from two wild populations: Oulu (northern Finland) and Lund (southern Sweden) during six consecutive years.
  • 3
    By means of a multivariate approach, we found year, locality, date, previous week average minimum temperature, age, body mass, and the interaction between locality and year were the factors retained in the final model, together explaining 71·1% of the total variation in BMR.
  • 4
    Birds from Oulu (n = 168) had a higher BMR than Lund birds (n = 156), and their BMR varied more between years than that of Lund birds. The two populations reacted in the same way to the other sources of variation examined.
  • 5
    Great tits from both populations showed a positive relationship between BMR and body mass and a negative relationship between BMR and date, previous week average minimum temperature and age.
  • 6
    This study highlights the need to standardize BMR measurements when testing predictions about metabolic rates from individuals of wild populations.
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