User:Gasawyer17/sandbox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Evaluate an article[edit]

This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.

  • Name of article: Ombrotrophic
  • The article's topic was closely related to the courses subject matter.

Lead[edit]

The lead is filled with a good quantity of information but does not overview the other sections.

Lead evaluation[edit]

Im not even really sure what this article is about

Content[edit]

The article is somewhat up to date with the most recent sources being in the 2010's with the older ones stemming from the 90's. The content of the other sections are relevant to the topic as a whole. The community and technology section could be a little more concise. The use of terminology in that section might be difficult for readers unfamiliar with sociological terms like social forms and might need simplification.

Content evaluation[edit]

The article had information in it but it was unorganized and you read along in a very vague and random manner

Tone and Balance[edit]

The article is mostly is written in a mostly neutral tone, however there seems to be a very slight bias towards viewing technology and its association with communication and social use in a more negative light.

Tone and balance evaluation[edit]

I feel that the tone is pretty neutral considering that it is just facts after facts being listed into sentences.

Sources and References[edit]

The lead section has many inline citations that can be attributed to academic papers referenced at the bottom of the article. The other sections however, completely lack in-line citations or any source material for that manner ( a point made by other editors at the top of the page).

Sources and references evaluation[edit]

All of the sources are unclear and lead to un-informational pages. I believe there are two references but one is listed in the Notes section.

Organization[edit]

The organization makes sense as it guides readers through different fields that sociotechnology as a study can apply to. There also was not any real jarring errors in mechanics and spelling.

Organization evaluation[edit]

The information is there but is not organized into the different aspects that they are. A lot of different information is sentenced together in two short paragraphs.

Images and Media[edit]

N/A the article does not use any form of images or visual media.

Images and media evaluation[edit]

One image is included, seems to be accurate based off of article.

Checking the talk page[edit]

The talk page is practically blank and only mentions that the article itself was part of a course assignment with a student editor. It is part of many start-class wikiprojects but there is no actual discussion on the talk page.

Talk page evaluation[edit]

Two entries are posted which mentions the projects this article is associated with.

Overall impressions[edit]

The article needs some improvement. Only the lead has any sources attributed which is a critical issue considering the following section make use of many claims, quotes, and a robot anecdote without sourcing any references for the information. It is good as a bold attempt to start the discussion on a new article/field. It is poorly developed without citations on a majority of work and will need major editing.

Overall evaluation[edit]

The article provides information but can be expanded on. Organization of this article will provide a more informational and understandable read. Citations and use of references needs to improve.

Optional activity[edit]

  • Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes ~~~~
  • Link to feedback:


For this project I have changed over from the article "ombrotrophic" to "swamp". The article has a good baseline of what the page should include but I plan to add more descriptions and information to help future readers understand the topic of this article in depth. Punctuation and wording could be improved.


Swamp[edit]

A swamp is a kind of wetland that is forested.[1] Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in creating this environment[2]. There are two main types of swamps, freshwater and saltwater swamps, all ranging in size and located in all climates. Freshwater swamps form along large rivers or lakes where they are critically dependent upon rainwater and seasonal flooding to maintain natural water level fluctuations[2][3]. Saltwater swamps are found along tropical and subtropical coastlines


In the boreal regions of Canada, the word swamp is colloquially used for what is more correctly termed a bog, fen, or muskeg. The water of a swamp may be fresh water, brackish wateror seawater. Some of the world's largest swamps are found along major rivers such as the Amazon, the Mississippi, and the Congo.[4]


Hydrology[edit]

Swamps are characterized by slow-moving to stagnant waters. Many adjoin riversor lakes. Swamps are features of areas with very low topographic relief.


Draining[edit]

Historically, humans have drained swamps to provide additional land for agricultureand to reduce the threat of diseases borne by swamp insects and similar animals.[clarification needed][5]Many swamps have also undergone intensive logging, requiring the construction of drainage ditches and canals. These ditches and canals contributed to drainage and, along the coast, allowed salt water to intrude, converting swamps to marshor even to open water.[6]Large areas of swamp were therefore lost or degraded. Louisianaprovides a classic example of wetland loss from these combined factors.[7]Europe has probably lost nearly half its wetlands.[5]New Zealand lost 90 percent of its wetlands over a period of 150 years.[8]Ecologists recognise that swamps provide valuable ecological services including flood control, fish production, water purification, carbon storage, and wildlife habitat.[9]In many parts of the world authorities protect swamps. In parts of Europe and North America, swamp restoration projects are becoming widespread.[10][11]Often the simplest steps to restoring swamps involve plugging drainage ditches and removing levees.[12]

Land value, productivity and conservation[edit]

Swamps and other wetlandshave traditionally held a very low property valuecompared to fields, prairies, or woodlands. They have a reputation for being unproductive land that cannot easily be utilized for human activities, other than perhaps huntingand trapping. Farmers, for example, typically drained swamps next to their fields so as to gain more land usable for planting crops.

Many societies now realize that swamps are critically important to providing fresh waterand oxygento all life, and that they are often breeding grounds for a wide variety of species. Indeed, floodplain swamps are extremely important in fish production.[13]Government environmental agencies (such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency) are taking steps to protect and preserve swamps and other wetlands. In Europe, major effort is being invested in the restoration of swamp forests along rivers.[10]Conservationists work to preserve swamps such as those in northwest Indiana in the United States Midwestthat were preserved as part of the Indiana Dunes.[14][15][16]The problem of invasive specieshas also been put into greater light such as in places like the Everglades.

Notable examples[edit]

Swamps can be found on all continents except Antarctica.[17]

The largest swamp in the world is the Amazon River floodplain, which is particularly significant for its large number of fish and tree species.[18][19][20]

Africa[edit]

The Suddand the Okavango Delta[21][22][23]are Africa's best known marshland areas. The Bangweulu Floodplainsmake up Africa's largest swamp.

Asia[edit]

The Tigris-Euphrates river system[24]is a large swamp and river system in southern Iraq, traditionally inhabited in part by the Marsh Arabs.

In Asia, tropical peat swamps are located in mainland East Asia and Southeast Asia. In Southeast Asia, peatlands are mainly found in low altitude coastal and sub-coastal areas and extend inland for distance more than 100 km (62 mi)along river valleys and across watersheds. They are mostly to be found on the coasts of East Sumatra, Kalimantan (Central, East, South and West Kalimantan provinces), West Papua, Papua New Guinea, Brunei, Peninsular Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, Southeast Thailand, and the Philippines (Riley et al.,1996). Indonesia has the largest area of tropical peatland. Of the total 440,000 km2 (170,000 sq mi)tropical peat swamp, about 210,000 km2 (81,000 sq mi)are located in Indonesia (Page, 2001; Wahyunto, 2006).

The Vasyugan Swampis a large swamp in the western Siberiaarea of the Russian Federation. This is one of the largest swamps in the world, covering an area larger than Switzerland.

North America[edit]

The Atchafalaya Swamp at the lower end of the Mississippi River is the largest swamp in the United States. It is an important example of southern cypress swamp[25] but it has been greatly altered by logging, drainage and levee construction.[26] Other famous swamps in the United States are the forested portions of the Everglades, Okefenokee Swamp, Barley Barber Swamp, Great Cypress Swamp and the Great Dismal Swamp. The Okefenokee is located in extreme southeastern Georgia and extends slightly into northeastern Florida. The Great Cypress Swamp is mostly in Delaware but extends into Maryland on the Delmarva Peninsula. Point Lookout State Park on the southern tip of Maryland contains a large amount of swamps and marshes. The Great Dismal Swamp lies in extreme southeastern Virginia and extreme northeastern North Carolina. Both are National Wildlife Refuges. Another swamp area, Reelfoot Lake of extreme western Tennessee and Kentucky, was created by the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes. Caddo Lake, the Great Dismal and Reelfoot are swamps that are centered at large lakes. Swamps are often called bayous in the southeastern United States, especially in the Gulf Coast region.

List of major swamps[edit]

A small swamp in Padstow, New South Wales, Australia
Inside a mangrove canopy, Salt Pan Creek, New South Wales

The world's largest wetlands include significant areas of swamp, such as in the Amazon and Congo River basins.[27] Further north, however, the largest wetlands are bogs.

Africa[edit]

Asia[edit]

Europe[edit]

A black alder swamp in Germany

North America[edit]

South America[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p.
  2. ^ a b Society, National Geographic (2011-01-21). "swamp". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  3. ^ Hughes, F.M.R. (ed.). 2003. The Flooded Forest: Guidance for policy makers and river managers in Europe on the restoration of floodplain forests. FLOBAR2, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. 96 p.
  4. ^ Keddy, P.A., L.H. Fraser, A.I. Solomeshch, W.J. Junk, D.R. Campbell, M.T.K. Arroyo and C.J.R. Alho. 2009. Wet and wonderful: the world's largest wetlands are conservation priorities. BioScience 59: 39–51.
  5. ^ a b Dugan, P. (ed.) 2005. Guide to Wetlands. Buffalo, New York. Firefly Books. 304 p.
  6. ^ Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p.
  7. ^ Keddy, P.A., D. Campbell, T. McFalls, G. Shaffer, R. Moreau, C. Dranguet, and R. Heleniak. 2007. The wetlands of lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas: past, present and future. Environmental Reviews 15: 1- 35.
  8. ^ Peters, M. and Clarkson, B. 2010. Wetland Restoration: A Handbook for New Zealand Freshwater Systems. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln, N.Z. ISBN 978-0-478-34707-4 (online)
  9. ^ Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Chapter 11.
  10. ^ a b Hughes, F.M.R. (ed.). 2003. The Flooded Forest: Guidance for policy makers and river managers in Europe on the restoration of floodplain forests. FLOBAR2, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. 96 p.
  11. ^ Environment Canada. 2004. How Much Habitat is Enough? A Framework for Guiding Habitat Rehabilitation in Great Lakes Areas of Concern. 2nd ed. 81 p.
  12. ^ Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Chapter 13.
  13. ^ Lowe-McConnell, R. H. (1975). Fish Communities in Tropical Fresh waters: Their Distribution, Ecology and Evolution. London: Long man
  14. ^ Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2006). Alice Gray, Dorothy Buell, and Naomi Svihla: Preservationists of Ogden Dunes. The South Shore Journal, 1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2012-06-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ^ Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2009). The Historical Roots of the Nature Conservancy in the Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland Region: From Science to Preservation. The South Shore Journal, 3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2015-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2007). The cultural impact of a museum in a small community: The Hour Glass of Ogden Dunes. The South Shore Journal, 2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2012-06-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ^ Hunter, Malcolm L. (1999). Maintaining Biodiversity in Forest Ecosystems. Cambridge University Press. p. 325. ISBN 978-0521637688.
  18. ^ Goulding, M. (1980). The Fishes and the Forest: Explorations in Amazonian Natural History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  19. ^ Lowe-McConnell, R. H. (1975). Fish Communities in Tropical Freshwaters: Their Distribution, Ecology and Evolution. London: Longman
  20. ^ L.H. Fraser and P.A. Keddy (eds.). 2005. The World's Largest Wetlands: Ecology and Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 488 p.
  21. ^ Brennan, Zoe (2006-06-24). "The superlions marooned on an island". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  22. ^ Main, Douglas (2013-11-26). "Photos: The Biggest Lions on Earth". Live Science. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  23. ^ "Lions of the Okavango". Siyabona Africa. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  24. ^ Daoudy, Marwa (2005). Le Partage des Eaux entre la Syrie, l'Irak et la Turquie (in French). CNRS. pp. 1–269. ISBN 2-271-06290-X. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  25. ^ Conner, W. H. and Buford, M. A. (1998). Southern deepwater swamps. In Southern Forested Wetlands: Ecology and Management, eds. M. G. Messina and W. H. Conner, pp. 261–87. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Publishers.
  26. ^ Reuss, M. (1998). Designing the Bayous: The Control of Water in the Atchafalaya Basin 1800–1995. Alexandria, VA: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Office of History.
  27. ^ L.H. Fraser and P.A. Keddy (eds.). 2005. The World's Largest Wetlands: Ecology and Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 488 p.
  28. ^ Brennan, Zoe (2006-06-24). "The superlions marooned on an island". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  29. ^ Main, Douglas (2013-11-26). "Photos: The Biggest Lions on Earth". Live Science. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  30. ^ "Lions of the Okavango". Siyabona Africa. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  31. ^ "India wild tiger census shows population rise". BBC News. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
  32. ^ Nowell, K.; Jackson, P., eds. (1996). "Panthera Onca". Wild Cats. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (PDF). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. IUCN. pp. 118–302. Retrieved 2015-09-07.

External links[edit]


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Gasawyer17/sandbox&oldid=927984579"