Functional trait divergence and trait plasticity confer polyploid advantage in heterogeneous environments

Summary

• Polyploidy, or whole‐genome duplication often with hybridization, is common in eukaryotes and is thought to drive ecological and evolutionary success, especially in plants. The mechanisms of polyploid success in ecologically relevant contexts, however, remain largely unknown.

• We conducted an extensive test of functional trait divergence and plasticity in conferring polyploid fitness advantage in heterogeneous environments, by growing clonal replicates of a worldwide genotype collection of six allopolyploid and five diploid wild strawberry ( Fragaria) taxa in three climatically different common gardens.

• Among leaf functional traits, we detected divergence in trait means but not plasticities between polyploids and diploids, suggesting that increased genomic redundancy in polyploids does not necessarily translate into greater trait plasticity in response to environmental change. Across the heterogeneous garden environments, however, polyploids exhibited fitness advantage, which was conferred by both trait means and adaptive trait plasticities, supporting a ‘jack‐and‐master’ hypothesis for polyploids.

• Our findings elucidate essential ecological mechanisms underlying polyploid adaptation to heterogeneous environments, and provide an important insight into the prevalence and persistence of polyploid plants.