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First published online September 14, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 3407-3414 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.005090

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Is basal metabolic rate influenced by age in a long-lived seabird, the snow petrel?

Børge Moe^1,*, Frédéric Angelier², Claus Bech¹ and Olivier Chastel²

¹ Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
² Centre d'Étude Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France

^* Author for correspondence at present address: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Division of Arctic Ecology, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway (e-mail: borge.moe{at}nina.no)

Accepted 26 July 2007

Ageing is associated with a decline in basal metabolic rate (BMR) in many species, including humans. The evolutionary and physiological causes underlying the relationship between age and BMR are poorly understood. Studies of procellariiform seabirds may provide valuable insight because they have a longer maximum lifespan than expected from their body size and rates of energy metabolism. Such studies are rare, however, because there are few populations with a high proportion of individuals of known age.

We performed a cross-sectional study of energy metabolism in relation to age in a long-lived seabird, the snow petrel Pagodroma nivea. In an Antarctic population that has been subject to a long-term research program, including annual banding of chicks since 1963, we measured BMR of individuals aged between 8 and 39 years. We show that the BMR of the snow petrel does not decrease with increasing age. BMR seems to be sustained at a fixed level throughout the investigated age-span.

We review this result in light of the disposable soma theory of ageing, and we discuss whether species-specific relationships between age and basal metabolic rate can be related to differences in maximum lifespan.

Key words: ageing, basal metabolic rate, body condition, disposable soma theory, diurnal rhythm, long-lived seabirds, oxidative stress hypothesis, Pagodroma nivea, senescence