  The purpose of this roadmap article is to draw attention to a paradigm shift
in our understanding of evolution towards a perspective of
ecological-evolutionary feedback, highlighted through two recent highly
simplified examples of rapid evolution. The first example focuses primarily on
population dynamics: anomalies in population cycles can reflect the influence
of strong selection and the interplay with mutations. The second focuses
primarily on the way in which ecological structure can potentially be
influenced by what is arguably the most powerful source of genetic novelty:
horizontal gene transfer. We review the status of rapid evolution and also
enumerate the current and future challenges of achieving a full understanding
of rapid evolution in all its manifestations.
