摘要
The majority of our knowledge of avian energetics is based on studies of birds from temperate and high latitudes. Using the largest existing sample of wild-caught Old World tropical species, we showed that birds from Southern Vietnam had lower basal metabolic rate （BMR） than temperate species. The strongest dissimilarity between tropical and temperate species was the low scaling exponent in the allometric relation between BMR and body mass in tropical birds （the regression slope was 0.573）. The passerine migrants to temperate and high latitudes had higher BMR than tropical sedentary passerines. Body mass alone accounted for 93% of the variation in BMR （body mass ranged from 5 to 252 g）. Contrary to some other studies, we did not find evidence besides the above mentioned that phylogeny, taxonomy, behavior, or ecology have a significant influence on BMR variation among tropical birds.
基金
Field work and initial data analysis was supported by the Tropical Center （project Ekolan E-1.2） and partially by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research （RFBR Grant nos 12-04-01440, 15-04-07407, and 15-04-08407）.The maintenance of the database and final data analysis was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation （RSF Grant no. 14-50-00029）.
