Light availability and Chemical Defenses in Mahogany

[EN] We report on findings from a common garden experiment showing that the magnitude of change in the production of phenolic compounds in response to different amounts of light availability is tissue-specific in saplings of big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla). Moreover, we show that trade-offs between growth and the production of chemical defenses emerge only under light-limited conditions. These findings emphasize the need for considering the specificity of plant defensive responses to resource availability, as well as the influence of the abiotic environment (via trade-offs) on plant defense allocation patterns.[ES] En este trabajo demostramos que los cambios en la inversión en defensas químicas de plántulas de caoba (Swietenia macrophylla) en respuesta a diferentes regímenes de disponibilidad de luz difiere entre tejidos. De igual forma, encontramos que la expresión de compromisos de asignación de recursos entre crecimiento y defensas solo se presenta bajo condiciones de baja disponibilidad de luz. Nuestros resultados subrayan la importancia de considerar la especificidad de las respuestas en plantas a cambios en la disponibilidad de recursos, así como la influencia del contexto abiótico (a través de compromisos) sobre los patrones de asignación de defensas contra herbívoros.This research was supported by a CONACyT grant awarded to VPT (128856). LAR was funded by a GAANN fellowship and a UCMEXUS-CONACyT scholarship. XM received financial support from Postdoctoral Fulbright/Spanish Ministry of Education Grant Program.CONACyT: Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (México)U.S. Department of EducationUCMEXUS: University of California Institute for Mexico and the United StatesPostdoctoral Fulbright/Spanish Ministry of Education Grant ProgramPeer reviewe