Submitted to: Ecology
Publication Type: Research Notes
Publication Acceptance Date: June 20, 2007
Publication Date: September 17, 2007
Citation: Sicher Jr, R.C. 2007. Biomass and toxicity responses of poison ivy (toxicodendron radicans) to elevated atmospheric C02: Reply. Ecology. 89:585-587.
Technical Abstract:
This is an invited comment that was requested by the Editors of the journal Ecology. The authors of this comment previously published an article showing that poison ivy growth was enhanced in a controlled experiment in response to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide. In this study the growth of poison ivy was monitored for 5 years in the Duke Forest. A subsequent article published in Ecology reported that an ongoing population survey of forests in parts of Wisconsin had not seen an increase in poison ivy abundance over the last 50 years. The authors of the invited comment argued that differences between these two studies were largely due to browsing by large and small mammals, such as deer and rabbits. Mammals were actively excluded from the carbon dioxide enrichment study but were present in the Wisconsin forests. This conclusion was consistent with the fact that White-tailed deer populations have expanded dramatically in the Eastern United States in recent years.
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