The molecular ecology of biological invasions: what do we know about non-additive genotypic effects and invasion success?

Recent research suggests that non-additive genotypic effects may play an important role in the establishment success of invasive species. However, most empirical data for these inferences come from greenhouse experiments. Only recently has researchers tested non-additive genotypic effects and establishment success of invasive alien species under field conditions. Here we give a brief overview of this research and also carefully consider data from the first publication, to our knowledge, to report on non-additive genotypic effects on invasion success under field conditions. We identify some shortcomings in this important study and make suggestions for future research aimed at better understanding the contributions of non-additive genotypic effects to establishment success and invasion.