Individual inconsistencies in basal and summit metabolic rate highlight flexibility of metabolic performance in a wintering passerine.

Abstract

Resident passerines inhabiting high latitude environments are faced with strong seasonal changes in thermal conditions and energy availability. Summit metabolic rate (maximal metabolic rate elicited by shivering during cold exposure: M(sum)) and basal metabolic rate (BMR) vary in parallel among seasons and increase in winter due to cold acclimatization, and these adjustments are thought to be critical for survival. Wintering individuals expressing consistently higher M(sum) and BMR could therefore be seen as better performers with higher chances of winter survival than those exhibiting lower metabolic performance. In this study, we calculated repeatability to evaluate temporal consistency of body mass, BMR and M(sum) within and across three consecutives winters in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). We found that body mass was significantly repeatable both within and across winters (R 0.51-0.90). BMR (R 0.29-0.47) was only repeatable within winter while M(sum) was repeatable both among (R 0.33-0.49) and within winters (R 0.33-0.49) with the magnitude and significance of repeatability in both variables depending on the year and whether they were corrected for body mass or body size. The patterns of repeatability observed among years also differed between the two variables. Our findings suggest that the relative ranking of individuals in winter metabolic performance is affected by local ecological conditions and can change within relatively short periods of time.