%0 Journal Article %A Katrien Van Petegem %A Felix Moerman %A Maxime Dahirel %A Emanuel A. Fronhofer %A Martijn L. Vandegehuchte %A Thomas Van Leeuwen %A Nicky Wybouw %A Robby Stoks %A Dries Bonte %T Kin competition overrules spatial selection as driver of range expansions %D 2017 %R 10.1101/150011 %J bioRxiv %P 150011 %X With ongoing global change, life is continuously forced to move to novel areas, which leads to dynamically changing species ranges and imposes rapid shifts in biotic communities and ecosystem functioning. As dispersal is central to range dynamics, factors promoting fast and distant dispersal are key to understanding and predicting species ranges. During range expansions, genetic variation is strongly depleted and genetic homogenisation increases. Such conditions should reduce evolutionary potential, but also impose severe kin competition. Although kin competition drives dispersal, we lack insights into its contribution to range expansions, relative to other processes, such as dispersal evolution. To separate evolutionary dynamics from kin competition, we combined simulation modelling and experimental range expansions using the spider mite Tetranychus urticae. Both modelling and experimental evolution demonstrated that plastic responses to kin structure increased range expansion speed by about 20%, while the effects of evolution and spatial sorting were marginal. This insight resolves an important paradox between the loss of genetic variation and earlier observed evolutionary dynamics facilitating range expansions. Kin competition may thus provide a social rescue mechanism in populations that are forced to keep up with fast climate change. %U https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2017/06/21/150011.full.pdf