Metabolic traits are shaped by phylogenetic conservatism and environment, not just body size

Significance Whether metabolic traits are shaped purely by biophysical constraints related to body size, or are subject to evolutionary optimization and environmental selection, remains a highly controversial topic in metabolic theory. Using a macroscale empirical test on a diverse insect group, we find phylogenetic conservatism in mass-independent metabolic rate, a weak but positive influence of temperature and aridity, and steeper allometric scaling at sites with high soil phosphorus. Metabolic rates have thus evolved to meet the energetic demands of ecological and environmental stressors beyond their relationship with body size. Discontinuous gas exchange, hypothesized to reduce desiccation, was positively correlated with aridity. Behavioral and physiological modulation of ventilation patterns in dry environments will benefit insects in a warming and drying world.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

• Publication date

  2025-07-17

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1073/pnas.2501541122PMID 40674417PMCID 12305036
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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