Assessing poison ivy (<i>Toxicodendron radicans</i>) presence and functional traits in relation to land cover and biophysical factors

Resler, Lynn M.; Fry, J. T.; Leman, Scotland; Jelesko, John G.

doi:10.1080/02723646.2021.1883802

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…American hog peanut is a poison ivy “look‐alike” frequently found in similar environments as poison ivy during a poison ivy trail‐transect study (Resler et al, 2022; J.G.J. personal communication).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This leaflet duplication adds yet another aspect of ambiguity to poison ivy plant identification. The potential for human-urushiol exposure is further increased because anthropogenic-disturbed environments are preferred poison ivy habitat (Resler et al, 2022). The convergence of poison ivy preference for human disturbed habitats combined with inherent poison ivy leaflet shape variability and leaflet number creates "a perfect storm" for muddled poison ivy plant identification.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most reports describing specific details about poison ivy ecology are not focused on poison ivy, but rather poison ivy is mentioned as one species of several that exemplify a particular topic. Examples of these topical ecological studies include: liana abundance at forest edges (Brice et al, 2014;Buron et al, 1998;Fraver, 1994;Ladwig & Meiners, 2010;Londre & Schnitzer, 2006), native faunal diets (Hicks, 1952(Hicks, , 1955Howden et al, 1951;Martin et al, 1951;Penner et al, 1999;Senchina & Summerville, 2007;Stanley & Arceo-Gomez, 2020;Steyskal, 1951;Suthers et al, 2000), both natural- (Allen et al, 2005;Brice et al, 2014;Catling et al, 2002;Ladwig & Meiners, 2010;O'Brien et al, 2007;Tessier, 2010) and anthropogenic-disturbance regimes (Resler et al, 2022), and increased poison ivy biomass containing allergenic urushiol in response to anthropogenic elevated atmospheric CO 2 levels (Mohan et al, 2006;Ziska et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) leaf shape variability: Why plant avoidance‐by‐identification recommendations likely do not substantially reduce poison ivy rash incidence

Jelesko,

Thompson,

Magerkorth

et al. 2023

Plants People Planet

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Societal Impact StatementAvoidance of poison ivy plants is currently the primary approach to prevent the estimated 30–50 million annual poison ivy skin rash cases. The “leaves of three let it be” mnemonic device lacks specificity to differentiate poison ivy from other three‐leaflet native plants. This report demonstrated that poison ivy leaves show marked total leaf shape variability that likely confounds accurate poison ivy plant identification, and significantly undermines a poison ivy avoidance strategy for mitigating poison ivy rash cases. Therefore, there is an ongoing need to develop prophylactic medical procedures to prevent poison ivy rash that do not depend on human poison ivy plant identification.Summary Urushiol is the natural product produced by poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) that is responsible for millions of cases of delayed contact allergenic dermatitis in North America each year. Avoidance of poison ivy plant material is the clinically recommended strategy for preventing urushiol‐induced dermatitis symptoms. However, poison ivy leaf shape is anecdotally notoriously variable, thereby confounding accurate poison ivy identification. This study focused on quantitative analyses of poison ivy and a common poison ivy look‐alike (American hog peanut) leaf shape variability in North America to empirically validate the high degree of poison ivy leaf shape plasticity. Poison ivy and American hog peanut iNaturalist.org records were scored for seven attributes of compound leaf shape that were combined to produce a total leaf complexity score. Both the mean and the distribution of poison ivy total leaf complexity scores were significantly greater than that of American hog peanut. Non‐metric multidimensional scaling analyses corroborated a high degree of poison ivy leaf shape variability relative to American hog peanut. A poison ivy accession producing frequent palmate penta‐leaflet compound leaves was evaluated using linear regression modeling. Poison ivy total leaf complexity was exceedingly variable across a given latitude or longitude. With that said, there was a small but significant trend of poison ivy total leaf complexity increasing from east to west. Palmate penta‐leaflet formation was significantly correlated with a stochastic leaflet deep‐lobing developmental process in one unusual poison ivy accession. The empirically‐validated poison ivy leaf shape hypervariability described in this report likely confounds accurate poison ivy identification, thereby likely resulting in many accidental urushiol‐induced clinical allergenic dermatitis cases each year.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%