Spring 2027

Biology and Management of Weeds and Invasive Plants

Explores the biology, ecology, and management of weeds and invasive plants in crop and non-crop ecosystems, covering identification and herbicide use.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Sarah Kezar

Summary

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe the diversity and impact that weeds have in different ecosystems.

  • Analyze the weed management strategies (e.g. chemical, physical, cultural, biological) currently being used in different crop and non-crop systems.

  • Correlate ecological principles and plant physiology with weed growth, survival, population dynamics, and invasiveness.

  • Distinguish between the classifications, mode of actions, and selectivity of commonly used herbicides and identify the associated herbicide symptomology.

  • Identify major weed species commonly found in the Midwestern United States.

  • Interpret application and mixing instructions on herbicide labels.

  • Evaluate the advantages and limitations of weed management strategies currently being used in different crop and non-crop systems in general and specific primary literature.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades

No recorded grade history.

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Prerequisites

Course map

BOTANY/​BIOLOGY 130,ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 152,PLANTSCI 110,BIOCORE 381, or graduate/professional standing

PLANTSCI 420

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

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SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 00
LAB 301Classroom Instruction0 / 240

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

An exploration of the biology, ecology, and management of weeds and invasive plant species in both crop and non-crop ecosystems. The ability of weeds to grow, establish, and adapt are examined through the lens of ecological principles and plant physiology. Opportunities and limitations of weed management practices are analyzed across chemical, physical, cultural, and biological tactics. Includes the development of practical skills for weed identification, determining herbicide symptomology, and interpreting application and mixing instructions on herbicide labels.

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Ecological principles and plant physiology underlying weed growth, establishment, and adaptation.
  • Chemical, physical, cultural, and biological weed management tactics and their limitations.
  • Identification of major weed species common to the Midwestern United States.

Skills

  • Weed identification, herbicide symptomology determination, and interpreting herbicide application and mixing instructions.
  • Analyzing chemical, physical, cultural, and biological weed management strategies in crop and non-crop systems.
  • Distinguishing herbicide classifications, modes of action, and selectivity while identifying associated symptomology.

Grades

Instructor

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Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

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Catalog observation history

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Selected offering source records
PLANTSCI 420 · Spring 2027

Biology and Management of Weeds and Invasive Plants

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:760:027490",
    "course_id": "PLANTSCI 420",
    "course_uid": "course_1171cbf2163d2fc3a90d4901",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "027490",
    "source_subject_id": "760",
    "title": "Biology and Management of Weeds and Invasive Plants",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Not Applicable"
  }
]
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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "a7e570c708abaf20239e49bd2ce31c53ca37180322c283a5904872dfae096e74",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}