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Metabolic cold adaptation (MCA), the hypothesis that species from cold climates have relatively higher metabolic rates than those from warm climates, was first proposed nearly 100 years ago and remains one of the most controversial hypotheses in physiological ecology. In the present study, we test the MCA hypothesis in fishes at the level of whole animal, mitochondria and enzyme. In support of the MCA hypothesis, we find that when normalized to a common temperature, species with ranges that extend to high latitude (cooler climates) have high aerobic enzyme (citrate synthase) activity, high rates of mitochondrial respiration and high standard metabolic rates. Metabolic compensation for the global temperature gradient is not complete however, so when measured at their habitat temperature species from high latitude have lower absolute rates of metabolism than species from low latitudes. Evolutionary adaptation and thermal plasticity are therefore insufficient to completely overcome the acute thermodynamic effects of temperature, at least in fishes.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	metabolic cold adaptation, MCA, metabolic rate, climate, plasticity, citrate synthase, mitochondria, physiological ecology, mitochondrial respiration, metabolic compensation, global temperature gradient,
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Biochemistry and cell biology
Research Field:	Cell metabolism
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments
Objective Field:	Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems
UTAS Author:	Frappell, PB (Professor Peter Frappell)
ID Code:	76089
Year Published:	2012
Web of Science® Times Cited:	99
Deposited By:	Zoology
Deposited On:	2012-02-27
Last Modified:	2017-11-01
Downloads:	0