Meeting Abstract

19.5  Friday, Jan. 4  Do Tropical Birds From Andean Forests Have Low Basal Metabolism? CHAPPELL, M.A.*; LONDONO, G.; JANKOWSKI, J.; ROBINSON, S.; RINCON, D.; CHINOME, A.; RIVERA, S.; RINCONGUARIN, D.; FLOREZ, C.; Univ. of California, Riverside; Univ. of Florida, Gainesville; Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver; Univ. of Florida, Gainesville; Univ. de Antioquia, Columbia; Univ. Tecnologia y Pedagogica de Tunja, Columbia; Univ. de Antioquia, Columbia; Univ. Industrial d Santander, Columbia; Univ. de Antioquia, Columbia chappell@ucr.edu

Recent studies by Joe Williams, Popko Wiersma, and colleagues indicate that tropical forest birds from Panama have significantly lower basal metabolic rates (BMR) compared to birds from higher latitudes. This finding was attributed to the slow ‘pace of life’ of tropical species (e.g., life history characterized by long lifespan, delayed maturation, low reproductive investment). To expand these results with data from a geographically distant tropical region, we measured BMR in 120 bird species from three field stations along the eastern Andean slope in Peru. The stations (400 m, 1400 m, and 3000 m elevation) include habitats ranging from hot, humid lowland Amazon forest to cool, high-altitude cloud forest. Birds were mist-netted and measured at night under conditions appropriate for determining BMR (ambient temperature 30-34 °C, fasted for > 5 h, stable and low metabolic rate, body temperature > 35 °C). We compared our BMR results to the data in Wiersma et al. (2007), and to the stringent BMR allometry generated by McKechnie and Wolf (2004). Both of the latter datasets include temperate as well as tropical species. We also tested for effects of altitude on the BMR of Andean birds, as there are substantial environmental temperature differences between the stations.