The Bioecology and Sustainable Management of Weeds

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 136

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Weed Research Lab, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
Interests: weed biology and ecology; weed management; biosafety assessment of herbicide-resistant crops

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Guest Editor
Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Interests: weed ecology; crop–weed interactions; weed management

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Guest Editor
College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
Interests: herbicide resistance; weed management; herbicide toxicity; weed biology; weed population ecology
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Guest Editor
Department of Pesticide Science, Plant Protection College, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
Interests: crop herbicide injury; weed ecology; herbicide resistance; sustainable weed management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Weeds, as the most important pest of agricultural systems, cause an enormous reduction in crop yield worldwide due to their strong adaptability and aggressive competitiveness in the agricultural environment. The use of herbicides is the most economic and effective weed control practice; however, excessive dependence on chemical herbicides has led to a shift in the occurrence and distribution of weeds and weed community succession, especially in terms of the evolution of herbicide-resistant weeds. Weed management is an emerging challenge, highlighting the urgent need to explore sustainable management strategies. An understanding of the evolution of agricultural weeds and crop–weed interactions will be crucial for improving weed management and crop breeding. Therefore, we need to extensively research the population dynamics, genetic evolution, and resource allocation mechanisms of the weeds in competition with crops. Finally, we must outline a sustainable management framework for precise weed management that integrates ecological and biological control, intelligent identification, and targeted herbicide applications to comprehensively manage weeds. This Special Issue of Plants will highlight the evolutionary dynamics of weeds, their competition and adaptation mechanisms, the interaction mechanisms between weeds and crops, and new efficient and sustainable weed management practices.

Prof. Dr. Xiaoling Song
Dr. Hongjuan Huang
Prof. Dr. Lang Pan
Prof. Dr. Mingshan Ji
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • weed ecology
  • weed bioecology
  • crop–weed interactions
  • sustainable management
  • genetic evolution
  • herbicide

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