Consequences of the cost of living: is variation in metabolic rate evolutionarily significant?

Pettersen, Amanda K.; Metcalfe, Neil B.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2022.0498

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…More popularly, this scaling phenomenon is often illustrated with the example of a mouse having a higher mass-specific metabolic rate than an elephant. Although there is considerable variation in the exact value of the observed scaling exponent, which might suggest a diversity of mechanisms at work (see [8][9][10][11] and [12] this issue), the search for a possible singular mechanism that underlies this biological rule has been a major pursuit in theoretical biology [13,14]. The question has increasingly attracted attention from a wider range of biologists with the advent of broad concepts such as the metabolic theory of ecology [15] and the pace-of-life hypothesis [16], ideas that place metabolic rate at the centre of all biological processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabolic scaling as an emergent outcome of variation in metabolic rate

Naug

2024

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The allometric scaling of metabolic rate and what drives it are major questions in biology with a long history. Since the metabolic rate at any level of biological organization is an emergent property of its lower-level constituents, it is an outcome of the intrinsic heterogeneity among these units and the interactions among them. However, the influence of lower-level heterogeneity on system-level metabolic rate is difficult to investigate, given the tightly integrated body plan of unitary organisms. In this context, social insects such as honeybees can serve as important model systems because unlike unitary organisms, these superorganisms can be taken apart and reassembled in different configurations to study metabolic rate and its various drivers at different levels of organization. This commentary discusses the background of such an approach and how combining it with artificial selection to generate heterogeneity in metabolic rate with an analytical framework to parse out the different mechanisms that contribute to the effects of heterogeneity can contribute to the various models of metabolic scaling. Finally, the absence of the typical allometric scaling relationship among different species of honeybees is discussed as an important prospect for deciphering the role of top-down ecological factors on metabolic scaling. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The evolutionary significance of variation in metabolic rates’.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabolic scaling as an emergent outcome of variation in metabolic rate

Naug

2024

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…Furthermore, selection for a fast pace of life may mediate the expression of higher metabolic rates [ 8 ] that can be beneficial in high competition environments [ 9 ]. Investigating the interplay between metabolic rates and survival—and the environmental dependence of this relationship—is crucial for understanding the potential adaptive capacity of variation in metabolic rates [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intergenerational plasticity aligns with temperature-dependent selection on offspring metabolic rates

Pettersen,

Metcalfe,

Seebacher

2024

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Metabolic rates are linked to key life-history traits that are thought to set the pace of life and affect fitness, yet the role that parents may have in shaping the metabolism of their offspring to enhance survival remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effect of temperature (24°C or 30°C) and feeding frequency experienced by parent zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) on offspring phenotypes and early survival at different developmental temperatures (24°C or 30°C). We found that embryo size was larger, but survival lower, in offspring from the parental low food treatment. Parents exposed to the warmer temperature and lower food treatment also produced offspring with lower standard metabolic rates—aligning with selection on embryo metabolic rates. Lower metabolic rates were correlated with reduced developmental and growth rates, suggesting selection for a slow pace of life. Our results show that intergenerational phenotypic plasticity on offspring size and metabolic rate can be adaptive when parent and offspring temperatures are matched: the direction of selection on embryo size and metabolism aligned with intergenerational plasticity towards lower metabolism at higher temperatures, particularly in offspring from low-condition parents. These findings provide evidence for adaptive parental effects, but only when parental and offspring environments match. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The evolutionary significance of variation in metabolic rates’.

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Consequences of the cost of living: is variation in metabolic rate evolutionarily significant?

Abstract: One contribution of 13 to a theme issue 'The evolutionary significance of variation in metabolic rates'.

Cited by 2 publications

References 110 publications

Metabolic scaling as an emergent outcome of variation in metabolic rate

Metabolic scaling as an emergent outcome of variation in metabolic rate

Intergenerational plasticity aligns with temperature-dependent selection on offspring metabolic rates

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