Phenotypic changes conferred by polyploidisation likely alter the ecological niche of polyploids, coming along with differences in performance compared to their diploid ancestors. However, it is largely unknown whether these performance differences remain constant during the life history of plants. Diploid Senecio noricus, tetraploid S. disjunctus, and hexaploid Senecio carniolicus s. str. of the autopolyploid species complex of S. carniolicus (Asteraceae) from the easternmost Alps were reciprocally transplanted to address the following questions: Are there differences in species performances indicating niche differentiation? If so, does the resident or the higher ploid species—which is taller growing and possibly more tolerant against challenging abiotic and biotic conditions—show higher performance? Are performance differences consistent between the early and late life-history stages? Our data suggest that the hierarchy of species performance depends on the life-history stage. For early life-history stages (seeds and seedlings), we mainly observed superior performance of S. carniolicus s. str. even on resident sites of the two other species. In contrast, vital rates of adults were predominantly highest for the resident species. The resident site of S. carniolicus s. str., which was expected to be environmentally least stressful (i.e., longest growing period, least affected by frost), turned out to be the most selective one, with high mortality and (nearly) no reproduction of the foreign species most likely due to top soil desiccation. Our study illustrates that there may be no clear-cut answer to the question if the resident or the higher ploid species shows superior performance in polyploid complexes, but rather suggests that relative performance may depend on life-history stage.

中文翻译：

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相互移植揭示了在最东部的阿尔卑斯山千里光千里光聚合体（菊科）的倍性分化物种之间的强大生态位分化。

多倍体化所带来的表型变化可能会改变多倍体的生态位，与它们的二倍体祖先相比，其性能也有所不同。但是，在植物的整个生命过程中，这些性能差异是否保持恒定是非常未知的。二倍体千里光noricus，四倍体S. disjunctus和六倍体千里光carniolicus秒。海峡 复杂的多倍体物种的S. carniolicus相互移植了来自最东阿尔卑斯山的菊科（菊科），以解决以下问题：物种表现是否存在差异，表明生态位分化？如果是这样，那么居高或更高的倍数物种（表现出更高的生长并且可能更具有挑战性的非生物和生物条件耐受性）是否表现出更高的性能？生命史早期和晚期之间的表现差异是否一致？我们的数据表明，物种表现的等级取决于生命历史阶段。在生命历史的早期阶段（种子和幼苗），我们主要观察到食肉链球菌的优异表现。s。海峡 即使在另外两个物种的栖息地上 相反，常驻物种的成活率主要是最高的。S. carniolicus的居民点。str。预计对环境的压力最小（即，最长的生长期，受霜冻的影响最小），结果是选择性最强的，具有很高的死亡率，并且（几乎）没有外来物种的繁殖可能是由于表层土壤干燥。我们的研究表明，如果常住或较高倍性物种在多倍体复合物中表现出优异的性能，可能没有明确的答案，而是表明相对性能可能取决于生活史阶段。