The role of multiple reproductive barriers: strong post-pollination interactions govern cytotype isolation in a tetraploid–octoploid contact zone

Background and Aims Polyploidy is an important contributor to sympatric speciation and assortative mating is a key mechanism driving cytotype interactions in contact zones. While strong reproductive barriers can mediate the coexistence of different cytotypes in sympatry, positive frequency-dependent mating disadvantage ultimately drives the transition to single-ploidy populations. However, comprehensive estimates of reproductive isolation among cytotypes and across multiple barriers are rare. We quantify the strength of isolation across multiple reproductive stages in a tetraploid–octoploid contact zone to understand the potential for coexistence. Methods Assortative mating due to flowering asynchrony, pollinator behaviour, morphological overlap, self-fertilization and gametic competition between tetraploid and octoploid Gladiolus communis in a contact zone in the Western Iberian Peninsula were assessed in natural and experimental populations to quantify reproductive isolation (RI) between cytotypes. Key Results Tetraploids and octoploids have a high degree of overlap in flowering time and similar floral morphology, and are visited by generalist insects without cytotype foraging preferences, resulting in weak pre-pollination RI (from 0.00 to 0.21). In contrast, post-pollination isolation resulting from gametic selection was a strong barrier to inter-cytotype mating, with ploidy composition in stigmatic pollen loads determining the levels of RI (from 0.54 to 1.00). Between-cytotype cross-incompatibility was relatively high (RI from 0.54 to 0.63) as was isolation acquired through self-pollination (RI of 0.59 in tetraploids and 0.39 in octoploids). Conclusions Total RI was high for both tetraploids (from 0.90 to 1.00) and octoploids (from 0.78 to 0.98). Such high rates of assortative mating will enable cytotype coexistence in mixed-ploidy populations by weakening the impacts of minority cytotype exclusion. This study reveals the key role of gametic selection in cytotype siring success and highlights the importance of comprehensive estimates across multiple reproductive barriers to understand cytotype interactions at contact zones.