Neighbor-detection causes shifts in allocation across multiple organs to prepare plants for light competition

To maximize their fitness, plants have to adjust their allocation strategy according to their abiotic and biotic environments. Plants can use the ratio of red to far-red light (R:FR) to sense neighbors, allowing them to modify their growth in response to aboveground competition.
In this study, we used supplemental FR light to artificially lower the R:FR of the lower leaves of common sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) to examine how plants change their growth in response to the threat of neighbors. We combined this treatment with a nitrogen fertilization treatment to investigate how responses to neighbor-detection interact with nitrogen limitation.
Plants grown in low R:FR increased in height at the expense of root growth, resulting in nitrogen limitation that restricted leaf growth. However, we found that plants reduced their nitrogen investment into leaves in low R:FR. By weakening the nitrogen sink strength of these lower leaves before they experienced low photosynthetically active radiat..., , , # Neighbor-detection causes shifts in allocation across multiple organs to prepare plants for light competition

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.crjdfn3cz](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.crjdfn3cz)

This dataset tracks the dimensions, height, and SPAD of every leaf on common sunflower plants (Helianthus annuus var. Solara F1) over a five week experimental period. In this experiment, plants were in one of four treatment groups: no nitrogen fertilization and no supplemental far-red light, no nitrogen fertilization and supplemental far-red light, nitrogen fertilization and supplemental far-red light, or nitrogen fertilization and no supplemental far-red light. This is complemented with the dry mass of the leaves, roots, stem, and flower buds for each individual at the end of the experiment and a validation dataset used to convert SPAD measurements into leaf nitrogen per area.

## Description of the data and file structure

Plant IDs are given by the row (A-H) and a numerical ID (1-15). Plan...