Problem
Hugo Cota-Sánchez (2002) reported that ploidy levels increase as plants grow closer to the poles, i.e. farther from the equator. In other words, ploidy levels are inversely proportional to ambient air temperature. What selective advantage might higher ploidy levels confer to plants in cold environments? How could you test your hypothesis? Provide a prediction. Note that the higher the ploidy level, the larger that individual cells (and nuclei) are. By contrast overall plant size of a given species tend to be smaller as temperatures get colder (Gorelick & Gorelick 2021; Cactus Succ. J.). Ignore the silliness that some botanists impose in which they automatically ascribe individuals to a different species if the ploidy level differs, which would mean that a species can only have one ploidy level.