Article Topic: Eutrophication
In terms relevancy, a majority of the information presented throughout the article was applicable to the topic overall. However, there were instances where there were odd sentences, which impeded the overall flow of the article. In particular, under the subheading of Ocean Waters, there is a single sentence citing the identification of hypoxic (low oxygen) zones throughout the world, which follows and is followed by paragraphs about the role of nitrogen in marine waters. There are also a few grammatically awkward phrases throughout the piece that are distracting to the reader. Finally, based on my current understanding of eutrophication, the information presented in this article seems to align well with the process and its effect on ecosystems.
In terms of the tone, the article generally does a good job at remaining unbiased and neutral, but there are some instances where some claims appear to be based on the author(s) personal opinions. In particular, language like “[it] seems feasible” and “[it] should be a key concern” are used towards the end of the article. This kind of language is opinion based, and should most likely be omitted from the article unless the author(s) can cite a reliable source from the literature. Next, this article does a good job at presenting information on the topic in well-balanced manner and there is no obvious evidence of over- or underrepresentation of any topic.
Of the sources checked, all the links redirected me to the page, which was being cited. In addition, the references cited throughout the article, most of which were from academic journals or book, were relevant, neutral and supported the claims being presented. However, there were a few instances throughout the article where references were absent but necessary, as there was a direct definition that did have a reference to the source where the definition was found. Also, as was discussed in the evaluation of the articles tone, there were a number of sentences that appeared to be opinion based, as they were not accompanied by any references to sources that support the claims. This opinion was not noted in the article.
On the talk page, there are a number of ongoing conversations regarding the language in the introductory paragraph, the provide definition of eutrophication, as well as other topics including concerns with photos, references and organization. The current status of the article is “Delisted good article” and it is currently part of the following projects: WikiProject Environment, WikiProject Fisheries and Fishing and WikiProject Limnology and Oceanography. This is a topic that has been discussed in a number of other environmental science courses at McMaster. The way in which Wikipedia discussed the topic aligns well with the way it has been presented in these courses. In particular, the presentation of the causes, consequences and future steps is a common and effective way to present this topic.
1) Cloud Albedo
This particular stub article, although quite short, contains content that is relevant to the topic and written in a neutral manner. I do however have come concerns about the reliability of the claims throughout the article, as a number of the references appear to not be from academic journals or other credible sources. In particular, the author links to a few unreliable or unavailable webpages. In order to improve this article, I would look into finding more credible sources from the scientific literature and use that information to expand on the article’s main points. I would particularity look into the how changes in cloud albedo affect ecosystems, and perhaps how anthropogenic influences can disrupt this process.
Consisting of one paragraph, this stub article presents a promising opportunity for me to expand on this particular topic. In terms of the content, however limited that may be, it appears to be relevant to the topic and it written from a neutral point of view. Every single sentence contains at least 1 citation, with 9 citations in total. Aside from one reference that appears to direct me to a non-credible source, the 8 remaining references are from what appears to be scholarly journals. In order to improve this article, I would continue to seek out research from credible scholar sources and expand upon a number of ideas presented in the introductory paragraph. Specifically, I would like to expand upon the different types of glacial refugia, how this process impacts flora and fauna, how this process can be used to explain current species distribution.
This final stub article, although brief, contains good points that are relevant to the topic, and is written without any bias. I do believe that the author has failed to cite a few claims throughout the ‘Genetic effects’ paragraph, and this would be a good place to start with my research to improve this article. In terms of the references, all four sources appear to be from scholarly journals or books. In order to improve this article I would definitely want to place an emphasis on how population fragmentation impacts the lives of affected species, as well as remediation efforts that are being implemented to reduce this negative impact.
After analyzing these three articles, I have decided that I want look for references to improve on the glacial Refugium article.
Davis, J., Pavlova, A., Thompson, R., & Sunnucks, P. (2013). Evolutionary refugia and ecological refuges: key concepts for conserving Australian arid zone freshwater biodiversity under climate change. Global change biology, 19(7), 1970-1984.
Holderegger, R., & Thiel‐Egenter, C. (2009). A discussion of different types of glacial refugia used in mountain biogeography and phylogeography. Journal of Biogeography, 36(3), 476-480.
Petit, R. J. et al. (2003). Glacial refugia: hotspots but not melting pots of genetic diversity. science, 300(5625), 1563-1565.
Schönswetter, P., Stehlik, I., Holderegger, R., & Tribsch, A. (2005). Molecular evidence for glacial refugia of mountain plants in the European Alps. Molecular Ecology, 14(11), 3547-3555.
Widmer, A., & Lexer, C. (2001). Glacial refugia: sanctuaries for allelic richness, but not for gene diversity. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 16(6), 267-269.
I have decided to add a citation into the Population fragmentation article, because there are a number of "Fragmentation causes" listed, all of which have no supporting citations. I have decided to add a citation to support the final claim in this section, which talks about the role of global warming in mountainous regions, in the reduction of population movements within habitats.
I used the following article to support this claim:
Hermes, C., Keller, K., Nicholas, R. E., Segelbacher, G., & Schaefer, H. M. (2018). Projected impacts of climate change on habitat availability for an endangered parakeet. PloS one, 13(1), e0191773.
This article in particular, talked about how climate change can lead to the reduction in the distributional range of species in tropical montane cloud forests, namely in reference to an endangered parakeet species.
The article that I have chose to edit is the stub article which I plan to expand on for this assignment, Glacial refugium. I have made grammatical changes to this article.
I have decided that I cam going to expand on the Glacial refugium article for my assignment. Below is list of a couple more references that will help with the writing of this article. The full list (including the references from Week 4) have been added to the talk page of the Glacial refugium article.
Feliner, G. N. (2011). Southern European glacial refugia: a tale of tales. Taxon, 60(2), 365-372.
Provan, J., & Bennett, K. D. (2008). Phylogeographic insights into cryptic glacial refugia. Trends in ecology & evolution, 23(10), 564-571.
The following peer reviews have also been posted in the Talk Page of both users' sandboxes.
"This is a really great first draft and you seem to really have a lot of good information here. The way that you linked to other Wikipedia pages was very effective, and the way that this was formatted made this very easy to follow and understand. Aside from a couple of minor grammar errors, I think this is really well done. Here are a few that I found:
- In the first line under Human Effects, “…directly introduced substance”
- In the third last sentence under Water Cycle, “Transpiration refers to the expiration of water…”
- Under Human effects, bullet 1 and 2, I think you should change “lead” to “leads”
Just moving forward I wonder if your article can benefit from maybe adding a bullet about the effects of pollution on the water cycle. For example sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere leads to acid rain, and I am curious how this would potentially impact the cycle. It may be interesting to look into. Otherwise this looks pretty good!"
"So far, I think that you have done a really good job at adding in relevant information to your topic, and the way that you have chosen to add a terminology section for key concepts is really effective. I understand that certain groundwater techniques and definitions can not come directly from scholar, peer-reviewed sources, and so with this in mind, your references look pretty good. In terms of changes, I would suggest maybe adding a couple of sentences about each of the methods for extraction (especially those that do not link to a Wikipedia page) to help the reader understand these processes. Also, I may have missed this, but why are some terms bolded and others not? If this is not done intentionally, just for aesthetic purposes, I think these should be consistent. Otherwise, really great job!"
In studies exploring the extent of glacial refugia in mountain species, three distinct types of glacial refugia have been identified.
A nunatak is a type of glacial refugia that is located on the snow-free, exposed peaks of mountains, which lie above the ice sheet during glaciations (Holderegger & Thiel, 2009). The identification of ‘diversity hotspots’ in areas, which should have been migration regions during major glacial episodes, is evidence for nunatak glacial refugia (Stehlik, 2000). For example, the Monte Rosa mountain ranges, the Avers, and the Engadine and the Bernina are all floristically rich proposed nunatak regions, which are indicative nunatak glacial survival (Stehlik, 2000).
Peripheral glacial refugia still exists within the mountain system but contrary to nunataks, which exist on the peaks, this type of refugia is located along the borders of mountain systems (Holderegger & Thiel, 2009). Evidence for this type of mountain refugia can be found along the borders of the Carpathian Mountains, PyreneesorEuropean Alps, all of which were formally glaciated mountain systems. Specifically, using the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique, researchers have been able to infer the survival of Phyteuma globulariifolium in peripheral refugia, in the European Alps (Schönswetter et al, 2002).
Lowland glacial refugia, unlike nunatak and peripheral glacial refugia, is a type of refugia that exists outside of the mountain system in the lowlands (Holderegger & Thiel, 2009). Situated beyond the limits of ice shields, lowland refugia has been identified for a number of plant and animal species. For example, through allozyme analysis, researchers have been able to confirm the continuous distribution of Zygaena exulans in the between the foothills of the Pyrenees and the Alps during the last ice age (Schmitt & Hewitt, 2004).
Holderegger, R., & Thiel‐Egenter, C. (2009). A discussion of different types of glacial refugia used in mountain biogeography and phylogeography. Journal of Biogeography, 36(3), 476-480.
Huntley, B., & Birks, H. J. B. (1983). An atlas of past and present pollen maps for Europe, 0-13,000 years ago.
Provan, J., & Bennett, K. D. (2008). Phylogeographic insights into cryptic glacial refugia. Trends in ecology & evolution, 23(10), 564-571.
Schmitt, T., & Hewitt, G. M. (2004). Molecular biogeography of the arctic‐alpine disjunct burnet moth species Zygaena exulans (Zygaenidae, Lepidoptera) in the Pyrenees and Alps. Journal of Biogeography, 31(6), 885-893.
Schönswetter, P., Tribsch, A., Barfuss, M., & Niklfeld, H. (2002). Several Pleistocene refugia detected in the high alpine plant Phyteuma globulariifolium Sternb. & Hoppe (Campanulaceae) in the European Alps. Molecular ecology, 11(12), 2637-2647.
Stehlik, I. (2000). Nunataks and peripheral refugia for alpine plants during quaternary glaciation in the middle part of the Alps. Botanica Helvetica, 110(1), 25-30.
Widmer, A., & Lexer, C. (2001). Glacial refugia: sanctuaries for allelic richness, but not for gene diversity. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 16(6), 267-269.
Following the completion of this Wikipedia assignment and all the associated training modules, I feel as if I have a better understanding of the Wikipedia community and the work that goes into each article. Truly, it was very interesting to get an idea of the process that goes behind the posting of information on Wikipedia; a source that we all take for granted on the daily basis.
During the article evaluation process of the assignment, I was able to think critically about the information presented within an article of my choosing. I approached this critique by evaluating the content, tone and reliability of sources associated the article entitled, Eutrophication. Over the course of this particular exercise, I was able to get a better understanding of how to contribute relevant, balanced and unbiased information, using support from scholarly or credible sources. Truly, the process of assessing the ability of an article to adhere to this criteria, I was able to get a better understanding of how to apply these guidelines to my future work.
Within week 5 of this assignment, we were given the task of adding both citations and edits to articles that were of interest to us. In regards to the addition of citations, I decided to add a citation to a statement presented in the article, Population Fragmentation. In this article, I was able to use a scholarly paper that highlighted the role of climate change in reducing the distributional range of an endangered tropical-montane parakeet to support claim presented in the Wikipedia article. This is valuable to the article because it provides an real-world example from the claim being presented, which serves to support the validity of the claim. In addition to adding citations, I also made minor grammatical revisions to the article, Glacial Refugium, which I believe benefited the overall flow and readability of the article.
The peer review process was a very beneficial step in refining, and helping my classmates to refine our article drafts. In this week of the assignment, I was able to write 2 peer reviews for my classmates and I received 2 in return. First, I conducted my peer reviews for class Wikipedia users, Carbohydrate Fatty acid and Tiffanyd4L. In both of these reviews, I made some suggestions regarding minor grammar revisions, as well as suggestions for where more information may be necessary. Second, in terms of edits that I received myself, my classmates were generally satisfied with the content of my article, but they also had a couple of suggestions moving forward. In particular, user Carbohydrate Fatty acid suggested the addition of a citation to my first sentence, and user Confidedbliss suggested a couple of grammatical revisions as well as some places where I could add links to other Wikipedia articles.
Although I did not directly reach out to my peers who critiqued my rough draft, I definitely appreciated their reviews, and I intend to make the changes that they suggested wherever I deem appropriate.
Overall, this Wikipedia assignment was definitely an eye-opening experience because it allowed me to get a better appreciation for the process that occurs behind the scenes of every article that is posted on Wikipedia. Undoubtedly, the format of this assignment is completely different from any other assignment that I have every done in the past, but regardless, the lessons of this assignment are essentially applicable to all future assignments. In particular, this assignment encouraged us to think critically about not only the sources that we use in our assignments, but also the overall content and tone of the work that we create. Truly, the completion of this assignment has allowed for me to add to a content gap in the literature, which thereby improves the ability of future students to access and understand my topic, Glacial refugium. This is important because help to increase the ease by which this information can be accessed in the future.
The article below is an expansion of the stub article entitled Glacial refugium.
Traditionally, the identification of glacial refugia have occurred through the assessment of palaeoecological evidence, to determine the origins of modern taxa.[1] For example, paleoecological approaches, which focus on the study of fossil organisms and their remains, have been used to reconstruct the distributions of pollen in Europe, for the 13,000 years since the last glaciation. Researchers in this case ultimately established the spread of forest trees from the mountainous southern fringe of Europe, which suggests that this area served as a glacial refugia during this time.[2]
In studies exploring the extent of glacial refugia in mountain species, three distinct types of glacial refugia have been identified[3].
A nunatak is a type of glacial refugia that is located on the snow-free, exposed peaks of mountains, which lie above the ice sheet during glaciations.[3] The identification of ‘diversity hotspots’ in areas, which should have been migration regions during major glacial episodes, is evidence for nunatak glacial refugia.[4] For example, the Monte Rosa mountain ranges, the Avers, and the Engadine and the Bernina are all floristically rich proposed nunatak regions, which are indicative nunatak glacial survival.[4]
Peripheral glacial refugia still exists within the mountain system but contrary to nunataks, which exist on the peaks, this type of refugia is located along the borders of mountain systems.[3] Evidence for this type of mountain refugia can be found along the borders of the Carpathian Mountains, Pyrenees or European Alps, all of which were formally glaciated mountain systems. Specifically, using the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique, researchers have been able to infer the survival of Phyteuma globulariifolium in peripheral refugia, in the European Alps.[5]
Lowland glacial refugia, unlike nunatak and peripheral glacial refugia, is a type of refugia that exists outside of the mountain system in the lowlands.[3] Situated beyond the limits of ice shields, lowland refugia has been identified for a number of plant and animal species. For example, through allozyme analysis, researchers have been able to confirm the continuous distribution of Zygaena exulans in the between the foothills of the Pyrenees and the Alps during the last ice age.[6]
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