Functional Ecology

代谢率——生命之火——是动物获取能量并将其转化为有用功能的过程的总和。所有动物都必须氧化食物以获得生长、繁殖和生存所需的能量，但氧化的速度因物种、种群和个体而异。鉴于代谢在生物学中的核心重要性，令人惊讶的是，我们对形成代谢率的进化过程仍然知之甚少。总体目标是利用定量遗传学、自然选择和比较方法确定代谢、行为和性能之间（co）适应的原因和后果。

Metabolic rate the fire of life is the sum of the processes by which animals acquire and channel energy into useful functions. All animals must oxidize foodstuff to obtain the energy needed to grow, reproduce and survive, but the rate at which they do so is highly variable among species, populations, and individuals. Given the central importance of metabolism in biology, it is surprising that we still know little about the evolutionary processes shaping metabolic rate. The overall goal is to identify the causes and consequences of (co)adaptations among metabolism, behaviour, and performance using quantitative-genetics, natural selection, and comparative approaches.