Latitudinal but not elevational variation in blood glucose level is linked to life history across passerine birds
Author(s) -
Tomášek Oldřich,
Bobek Lukáš,
Kauzálová Tereza,
Kauzál Ondřej,
Adámková Marie,
Horák Kryštof,
Kumar Sampath Anandan,
Manialeu Judith Pouadjeu,
Munclinger Pavel,
Nana Eric Djomo,
Nguelefack Télesphore Benoît,
Sedláček Ondřej,
Albrecht Tomáš
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.14097
Subject(s) - passerine , ecology , variation (astronomy) , biology , life history , zoology , astrophysics , physics
Abstract Macrophysiological research is vital to our understanding of mechanisms underpinning global life history variation and adaptation to diverse environments. Here, we examined latitudinal and elevational variation in a key substrate of energy metabolism and an emerging physiological component of pace‐of‐life syndromes, blood glucose concentration. Our data, collected from 61 European temperate and 99 Afrotropical passerine species, revealed that baseline blood glucose increases with both latitude and elevation, whereas blood glucose stress response shows divergent directions, being stronger at low latitudes and high elevations. Low baseline glucose in tropical birds, compared to their temperate counterparts, was mainly explained by their low fecundity, consistent with the slow pace‐of‐life syndrome in the tropics. In contrast, elevational variation in this trait was decoupled from fecundity, implying a unique montane pace‐of‐life syndrome combining slow‐paced life histories with fast‐paced physiology. The observed patterns suggest that pace‐of‐life syndromes do not evolve along the single fast‐slow axis.