The Effects of Kin‐structured Colonization on Nuclear and Cytoplasmic Genetic Diversity

We investigate kin-structured migration and its effects on patterns of genetic variation in cytoplasmic and nuclear genomes. We show that colonization events involving close relatives, such as those that might characterize range expansion and the invasion of new habitats, can change the patterns of nuclear and cytoplasmic genetic variation expected at equilibrium. The difference in the patterns of variation between the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes suggests that it may be possible to estimate the time of the effective kin-structured colonization event. Observations in several taxa are discussed in light of these findings and in relation to their known geological history.