Stable and sufficient food supplies are increasingly threatened by climatic variability, in particular extreme heat events. Intraspecific crop diversity may be an important biological resource to both understand and maintain crop resilience to extreme conditions. Here using data from a mass field experiment screening for heat tolerance in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), we identify 132 heat-tolerant cultivars and breeding lines (6.7%) out of 1,973 investigated. Sweet potato is the world’s fifth most important food crop, and mean conditions experienced by sweet potato by 2070 are predicted to be 1 to 6 °C warmer, negatively impacting most genotypes. We identify canopy temperature depression, chlorophyll content and storage root-flesh colour as predictors of heat tolerance and, therefore, as potential traits for breeding consideration. These results highlight the role of intraspecific biodiversity for the productivity and resilience of food and agricultural systems in the face of climate change.

气候变化，特别是极端高温事件，日益威胁着稳定和充足的粮食供应。种内作物多样性可能是了解和维持作物对极端条件的适应力的重要生物资源。这里使用来自野外实验筛选甘薯（Ipomoea batatas）耐热性的数据），我们从1973个调查中确定了132个耐热品种和育种系（6.7％）。甘薯是世界第五大最重要的粮食作物，预计到2070年甘薯的平均状况将变暖1至6°C，对大多数基因型产生负面影响。我们确定冠层温度降低，叶绿素含量和贮藏根肉颜色是耐热性的预测指标，因此，是育种考虑的潜在性状。这些结果突显了种内生物多样性在面对气候变化时对于粮食和农业系统的生产力和复原力的作用。