Phenotypic selection on physiological parameters is an underrepresented topic in studies of evolutionary biology. There is especially a lack of studies involving invertebrate organisms. We studied the repeatability of the standard metabolic rate (SMR) and the effect of individual variation in SMR on the subsequent winter survival in a terrestrial shell-bearing mollusc, the white-lipped snail (Cepaea hortensis) in mid-Norway. SMR was measured twice during the autumn and – after an experimental overwintering at controlled conditions – twice during the following spring. We found a significant repeatability of SMR over all three time periods tested, with a clear effect of time, with a high repeatability of 0.56 over 4 days during spring, 0.44 over 12 days in the autumn and 0.17 over 194 days from autumn to spring. That SMR is a repeatable physiological trait across the winter period during which a possible selection might occur, suggests that SMR could be a potential target of natural selection. We indeed found that the autumn SMR significantly influenced the probability of survival during the winter period, with a combination of a positive linear (P = .011) and a quadratic stabilizing (P = .001) effect on SMR. Our results hence support the view that metabolic rate is an important physiological component influencing the fitness of an organism.

生理参数的表型选择是进化生物学研究中代表性不足的话题。尤其缺乏有关无脊椎动物生物的研究。我们研究了标准代谢率（SMR）的可重复性以及SMR个体变化对陆生带壳软体动物白唇蜗牛（Cepaea hortensis）随后冬季生存的影响）在挪威中部。在秋季，对SMR进行了两次测量，在受控条件下进行了实验性越冬之后，在第二年春季进行了两次测量。我们发现，在测试的所有三个时间段内，SMR的可重复性都非常显着，具有明显的时间影响，春季的4天为0.56，秋季的12天为0.44，秋季至春季的194天为0.17，具有很高的重复性。SMR是整个冬季可能发生选择的可重复生理特征，表明SMR可能是自然选择的潜在目标。我们确实发现，秋季SMR通过正线性（P  = .011）和二次稳定（P = .001）对SMR的影响。因此，我们的结果支持以下观点：新陈代谢率是影响生物体适应性的重要生理成分。