Secrets of Alpine Flora Revealed: Expansion of Polyploid Plants Is Driven by Ancient Glaciers, Not Frost
Published: Friday 18.9.2026
An international research team with the participation of botanists from Charles University has disproved an influential scientific assumption. Extensive research on 42,000 samples of alpine plants showed that species with duplicated DNA content (so-called polyploids) do not grow more frequently at higher elevations. Their current occurrence is determined by historical dispersal following the retreat of glaciers rather than by today's extreme mountain conditions.





