Silicon-based anti-herbivore defense in tropical tree seedlings

# Title of Dataset: Silicon-based herbivory defence in tropical tree seedlings Results (leaf damage) of multiple-choice feeding trials. We grew seedlings of eight tropical tree species in a full factorial experiment, including two levels of plant-available soil silicon (Si) concentrations (-Si/+Si) and a simulated herbivory treatment (-H/+H). The simulated herbivory treatment was a combination of clipping and application of methyl jasmonate. We then carried out multiple-choice feeding trials, separately for each tree species, in which leaves of each treatment combination were offered to a generalist caterpillar species. ## Description of the Data and file structure Each row contains data for one seedling. Columns are the following: ind\_id: id of seedling (overall) nb\_trial: id of feeding trial species: species code Si: "+" = Individual grew in Si-rich soil; "-" = Individual grew in Si-poor soil treatment: "H" = Individual received simulated herbivory treatment; "C" = Individual did not receive simulated herbivory treatment individual: id of seedling (within species) date: date trial was carried out area\_left: area (in cm¹) left after the trial (YYYYMMDD) damage\_percent: (1-(area\_left/2))100, each leaf disk was 2cm² Si\_content: Leaf Silicon concentration (mg/g) of the individual (for one individual data could not be obtained and is therefore denoted "NA")