Predictors of incubation costs in seabirds: an evolutionary perspective

Energy costs during breeding play an important role in the evolution of life history traits. Seabirds show substantial variation in both incubation shift length ( ISL ) and metabolic rates. However, it is still unclear how variation in life history traits relates to incubation metabolic rates ( IMR ). Here, we examine the relationship between IMR and life history traits, including ISL , fledging strategy (precocial to altricial), incubation...