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Quantitative genetics of basal metabolic rate and body mass in free‐living pied flycatchers
Author(s) -
Bushuev A. V.,
Husby A.,
Sternberg H.,
Grinkov V. G.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00947.x
Subject(s) - biology , basal metabolic rate , heritability , trait , natural selection , quantitative genetics , population , selection (genetic algorithm) , zoology , genetic correlation , ecology , evolutionary biology , genetic variation , genetics , demography , biochemistry , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science , gene , programming language
Despite basal metabolic rate ( BMR ) being one of the most commonly measured physiological traits and an important indicator of competitive ability, very little is known about its genetic basis and relation to other physiological traits. Here, we present the first attempt to estimate the multivariate basis of BMR using a natural population of pied flycatcher F icedula hypoleuca breeding in the T omsk R egion, W estern S iberia. We show relatively high and significant heritability of whole‐organism BMR , mass‐specific BMR and mass‐independent BMR ( h 2 = 0.43, 0.55 and 0.52, respectively), which indicates the potential of these energetic traits to respond to direct selection. In contrast to some previous reports, we found that the genetic correlations between body mass and all three measures of BMR were not significantly different from zero. Independent evolution of body mass and BMR in this species should therefore be possible. Following a previous report, we also estimated the genetic correlations between the different BMR measures and show they are all close to unity, suggesting that they are, from a genetic point of view, a similar trait. Our results are in contrast with previous studies measuring the genetic basis of metabolic rates using aviary‐bred birds and highlight the importance of considering BMR in a natural setting.