DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6q573n65b
title: Allocation to growth and defense in Hevea

description: Plants allocate resources to growth, defense, and stress resistance, and
 resource availability can affect the balance between these allocations. We
 measured growth and defense in a provenance trial of rubber trees (Hevea
 brasiliensis) with clones originating from the Amazon basin. To test
 hypotheses on the allocation to growth vs. defense, we relate biomass
 growth and latex production to wood and leaf traits, to climate and soil
 variables from the original location, and to the genetic relatedness of
 the Hevea clones. Growth was weakly correlated with leaf traits, such as
 leaf mass per area, intrinsic water use efficiency, and leaf nitrogen
 content, but the relative investment in growth vs. defense was not
 associated with specific traits or environmental variables. Wood and leaf
 traits showed clinal correlations to rainfall and soil variables of the
 original location. These traits exhibited strong phylogenetic signals,
 highlighting the role of genetic factors in trait variation and
 adaptation. Contrary to expectations, there was no trade-off between
 growth and defense, but latex yield and biomass growth were positively
 correlated, and both increased with tree size. The absence of a trade-off
 may be attributed to high resource availability in the plantation,
 allowing trees to allocate resources to both growth and defense. The study
 provides insights into the interplay between resource allocation,
 environmental adaptations, and genetic factors in trees. While latex
 production (but not growth) also had strong phylogenetic signal, the
 underlying drivers for high variation of latex production in one of the
 commercially most important tree species remains unexplained. 
description: The study utilized Brazilian rubber trees, originally sampled
 from wild populations in the Amazon basin. Trees were planted in a
 provenance trial in Thailand with replicates per clone. Latex yield and
 growth data were collected over several years, while leaf and wood traits
 were measured from leaf and wood samples collected from various clones.
 Traits related to growth, defense, leaf, and wood traits were analyzed to
 explore potential trade-offs among these categories. Additionally,
 environmental variables from the original locations of the clones were
 considered in the analysis.
description: # Allocation to growth and defense in Hevea
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6q573n65b](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6q573n65b) The dataset contains a census of 224 Hevea clones originally sampled from wild populations in the Amazon basin and planted in a provenance trial in Thailand. The dataset of each clone was weighted by replications within clones (3-5 trees per clone). The plant traits are related to four categories: growth (tree diameter), defense (latex yield), leaf (leaf mass per area, intrinsic water use efficiency, leaf C and N content) and wood traits (vessel traits and drought resistant traits). Additionally, environmental variables including bioclimate and soil variables are included. Using this dataset we investigate the interplay between resource allocation (growth, defense, and stress resistance), environmental adaptations and genetic factors in the wild rubber trees. **Description of the data and file structure** The data are structured within one .xlsx file with two tabs. The first tab, titled “meta” contains information of all parameters and abbreviations. The second tab, titled “clone_data”, includes all data for all clones. There are five panels for five groups of data. The first panel is related to growth and defense traits. Secondly, this is for wood traits. Third panel is for leaf traits. The fourth panel is for bioclimate variables. The fifth panel is for soil variables. Missing data values are coded by NA. **Contact** For further inquiries about the data, please contact: Dr Kanin Rungwattana at [kanin.run@ku.th](mailto:kanin.run@ku.th) or Prof. Peter Hietz at [peter.hietz@boku.ac.at](mailto:peter.hietz@boku.ac.at).