Direct and indirect trade-offs between resistance, growth, and reproduction in the Japanese stinging nettle Urtica thunbergiana

Most studies of trade-offs between defence, growth, and reproduction have examined pairwise correlations between these processes, used ratio-based measures for defence allocation such as allelochemical concentration and trichome density, and estimated resource allocation to growth and reproduction in terms of biomass. However, for statistical and biological reasons, it may be preferable to analyse these processes holistically, to use absolute amounts of resistant traits and leaf mass/area, and to measure growth and reproduction in terms of nodes with or without flowers. 
We aimed to identify how leaf stinging hairs as resistant structures and leaf area as a functional trait affected growth and reproduction in the Japanese stinging nettle Urtica thunbergiana. 
We conducted a greenhouse experiment with nettles derived from a population that has been historically exposed to heavy browsing by Sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Nara Park, Japan. We analysed causal relationships betw..., Data analyses
 
Hierarchical linear modelling analysis for relationship between leaf area and stinging hair number
In our data set, the sampling unit of leaf was nested within plant. We therefore constructed a two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) to examine the relationship between leaf area and stinging hair number at the within-plant and between-plant levels:
Within-plant level
Yij = β0j + β1j Xij + rij
Between-plant level
β0j = γ00 + γ01 Gj + u0j
β1j = γ10 + γ11 Gj + u1j
where
Yij = stinging hair number for leaf i of plant j
Xij = leaf area for leaf i of plant j
Gj = mean leaf area of plant j
β0j = plant-specific intercept
β1j = plant-specific slope
γ00 = overall mean intercept (fixed effect)
γ10 = overall mean slope (fixed linear effect of leaf area)
γ01 = regression coefficient associated with mean leaf area of plant relative to plant-specific intercept (fixed linear effect of mean leaf area of plant)
γ11 = regression coefficient associated with mean leaf area of plant re..., , # Direct and indirect trade-offs between resistance, growth, and reproduction in the Japanese stinging nettle Urtica thunbergiana

We collected nettle seedlings in Nara Park in early spring and raised them in a greenhouse near the park. For each plant that survived in early November, we counted the stinging hairs on the upper surface of the leaves along the main axis and measured the leaf area (cm^2). We also counted the total number of nodes and the number of inflorescence-producing nodes.

## Description of the data and file structure

This file contains characteristic data for each nettle used for hierarchical linear model analysis of the relationship between leaf area and stinging hair number and structural equation model analysis of trade-offs between resistance, growth and reproduction. Leaf area and stinging hair number were corrected with reference to undamaged part when leaves were damaged by insects and viruses.

### Sheet Leaves

**\"Leaf traits\"**

* Leaf code
* NA_ID: Plant ...,