Abstract
This chapter reviews the mechanisms underlying, and dynamics of, rapid evolution in invasive species. By synthesising recent research, the relative roles of adaptive (abiotic and biotic) and non-adaptive (founder events, bottlenecks, drift, spatial sorting) processes in causing rapid evolution in invasive species are discussed. Traits that often undergo rapid evolution in invasive species, such as clinal variation in phenology, increased competitive ability, changes in reproductive biology, etc., are examined in detail. The need to account for geographic structure in traits, as well as stochastic processes associated with the introduction history and spread of exotic species, when studying rapid evolution, is discussed. The chapter concludes by suggesting future avenues for the study of rapid evolution in invasive species.
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