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The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 2145-2157 (2003)
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00396

Body size as a latent variable in a structural equation model: thermal acclimation and energetics of the leaf-eared mouse

Roberto F. Nespolo^*, Matías Arim and Francisco Bozinovic

Centro de estudios avanzados en Ecología y Biodiversidad, Departamento de Ecología, Facultad Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, PO Box 6513677, Santiago, Chile

^* Author for correspondence at present address: Instituto de Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile (e-mail: robertonespolo{at}uach.cl)

Accepted 24 March 2003

Body size is one of the most important determinants of energy metabolism in mammals. However, the usual physiological variables measured to characterize energy metabolism and heat dissipation in endotherms are strongly affected by thermal acclimation, and are also correlated among themselves. In addition to choosing the appropriate measurement of body size, these problems create additional complications when analyzing the relationships among physiological variables such as basal metabolism, non-shivering thermogenesis, thermoregulatory maximum metabolic rate and minimum thermal conductance, body size dependence, and the effect of thermal acclimation on them.

We measured these variables in Phyllotis darwini, a murid rodent from central Chile, under conditions of warm and cold acclimation. In addition to standard statistical analyses to determine the effect of thermal acclimation on each variable and the body-mass-controlled correlation among them, we performed a Structural Equation Modeling analysis to evaluate the effects of three different measurements of body size (body mass, m_b; body length, L_b and foot length, L_f) on energy metabolism and thermal conductance. We found that thermal acclimation changed the correlation among physiological variables. Only cold-acclimated animals supported our a priori path models, and m_b appeared to be the best descriptor of body size (compared with L_b and L_f) when dealing with energy metabolism and thermal conductance. However, while m_b appeared to be the strongest determinant of energy metabolism, there was an important and significant contribution of L_b (but not L_f) to thermal conductance. This study demonstrates how additional information can be drawn from physiological ecology and general organismal studies by applying Structural Equation Modeling when multiple variables are measured in the same individuals.

Key words: basal metabolic rate, maximum metabolic rate, thermal acclimation, structural equation modeling, body size, leaf-eared mouse, Phyllotis darwini

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