Basal metabolism in tropical birds: latitude, altitude, and the ‘pace of life’

Life history varies across latitudes, with the ‘pace of life’ being ‘slower’ in tropical regions. Because life history is coupled to energy metabolism via allocation tradeoffs and links between performance capacity and energy use, low metabolic intensity is expected in tropical animals. Low metabolism has been reported for lowland tropical birds, but it is unclear if this is due to ‘slow’ life history or to a warm, stable environment. We measured basal metabolic rates (BMR) of 253 bird species across a 2·6 km altitude gradient in Peru. We predicted higher BMR at high altitude due to lower temperatures leading to elevated thermoregulatory costs. We also tested for BMR differences between widely separated tropical regions (Peru and Panama), and between tropical- and temperate-breeding birds.