User:Andrewlin1/sandbox

Article Evaluation: Environmental science
Some of the information in the article is relevant to the topic of environmental science, although there are some sections that are unfocused and distracting. The second paragraph of the article talks about social sciences, which seems a bit unfocused. The Terminology section speaks largely about ecology, which is talked about again in another section and doesn't seem to have too much relevance to the heading of "Terminology." The section "Regulations driving the studies" also seems to not be very relevant to the topic of environmental sciences or the rest of the article. The information in the article is up to date, but much could be added to improve the focus and information available. More details could be added in the Components section and sections like the past history of the field could be added in as well.

The article is neutral in tone and no claims appear to be biased toward any position. The viewpoint of the article seems to be from an American perspective though as many definitions and examples are drawn from America.

All of the links from the citations work, but some do not take you directly to the source as there are several books referenced. The sources do seem to support what is said in the article. Not all facts are supported with a reference, but of the sources that are used, they are neutral, coming from textbooks and government websites.

The conversations on the talk page are intermittent and mostly negative, with most describing the article as disappointing or lacking in some regard. The article is rated C-class in both Environment and Technology WikiProjects.

Article Selection
Biogeology: This article is very short, with only a few short paragraphs of information available. The minimal content is relevant to the topic, and the article is written neutrally, but the citations are lacking and the one's available do not seem extremely reliable. On it's talk page the article is listed under the WikiProject's Geology and Soil, with Start-Class on the quality scale and mid-importance on the importance scale.

Marine ecosystem: This article's content is relevant to the topic and is written neutrally, but considering the scope of the topic of marine ecosystems, the article is quite short and relatively non-descriptive. Most of the claims have at least one citation and the citations seem are reliable. The article is rated mid/high importance with stub quality, and may be a good one to work on. This article could be improved just by adding more information to the existing sections. For example, the ecosystem services of each of the categories in the "Types" section could be explained individually, and more detailed descriptions of the each of the sections could be improved.

Siltation: The content presented in the article is relevant to the topic and is written neutrally, but there is a minimal amount of citations for the amount of information presented in the article, and one of the citations presented may not even be a reliable source as it a company website. An improvement to this article would be at least to find more sources and reliable sources to reference for information.

Salt Marshes
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/saltmarsh.html

https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/cp/documents/cp-06.pdf

Mangroves
https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/plants-algae/mangroves

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/mangroves.html

Intertidal zone
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/intertidal-zone.html

https://www.crd.bc.ca/education/our-environment/ecosystems/coastal-marine/intertidal-zone

Estuary
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/estuary.html

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_estuaries/welcome.html

https://www.crd.bc.ca/education/our-environment/ecosystems/coastal-marine/estuaries

Lagoons

https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/lagoons_and_estuaries_book.pdf

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lagoon.html

Coral Reefs
https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life-education-resources/coral-reef-ecosystems

https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/coral-reefs-and-climate-change

https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/corals-and-coral-reefs

Deep Sea
https://ocean.si.edu/ecosystems/deep-sea/deep-sea

https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/oceans/deep_sea/deepsea_importance/

Ecosystem Services
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/314/5800/787

https://biodiversity.europa.eu/topics/ecosystem-services

https://academic.oup.com/reep/article-abstract/6/1/1/1562672

Pollution
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15041420

Invasive Speices
https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/31265585/Bax_et_al_2003_invas_sp.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1554589351&Signature=Rd4PIZGUWtlj3CXIQ%2Bt%2B9PCWL00%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DMarine_invasive_alien_species_a_threat_t.pdf

Salt marsh[edit]
Main article: Salt marsh

Salt marshes are a transition from the from the ocean to land, where fresh and salt water mix. The soil in these marshes is often made up of mud and a layer of organic material called peat. Peat is characterized as waterlogged and root-filled decomposing plant matter that often causes low oxygen levels (hypoxia). These hypoxic conditions are caused the growth of bacteria that also give salt marshes the sulfurous smell they are often known for. Salt marshes exist around the world and are needed for healthy ecosystems and a healthy economy. They are extremely productive ecosystems and they provide essential services for more than 75 percent of fishery species and protect shorelines from erosion and flooding. Salt marshes can be generally divided into the high marsh, low marsh and the upland border. The low marsh is closer to the ocean, with it being flooded at nearly every tide except low tide. The high marsh is located between the low marsh and the upland border and it usually only flooded when higher than usual tides are present. The upland border is the freshwater edge of the marsh and is usually located at elevations slightly higher than the high marsh. This region is usually only flooded under extreme weather conditions and experiences much less waterlogged conditions and salt stress than other areas of the marsh.

Mangroves[edit]
Main article: Mangrove

Mangroves are trees or shrubs that grow in low-oxygen soil near coastlines in tropical or subtropical latitudes. They are are an extremely productive and complex ecosystem that connects the land and sea. Mangroves consist of species that are not necessarily related to each other, and are often grouped together for the characteristics they share rather than genetic similarity. Because of their proximity to the coast, they have all developed adaptions such as salt excretion and root aeration to live in salty, oxygen-depleted water. Mangroves can often be recognized by their dense tangle of roots that act to protect the coast by reducing erosion from storm surges, currents, wave, and tides. The mangrove ecosystem is also an important source of food for many species as well as excellent at sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with global mangrove carbon storage being estimated at 34 million metric tons per year.

Intertidal zones[edit]
Intertidal zones are the areas that are visible and exposed to air during low tide and covered up by saltwater during high tide. There are four physical divisions of the intertidal zone with each one having its own distinct characteristics and wildlife. These divisions are the Spray zone, High intertidal zone, Middle Intertidal zone and Low intertidal zone. The Spray zone is a damp area that is usually only reached by ocean and submerged only under high tides or storms. The high intertidal zone is submerged at high tide but remains dry for long periods of time between high tides. Due to the large variance of conditions possible in this region, it is inhabited by resilient wildlife that can withstand these changes such as barnacles, marine snails, mussels and hermit crabs. Tides flow over the middle intertidal zone two times a day and this zone has a larger variety of wildlife. The low intertidal zone is submerged nearly all the time except during the lowest tides and life is more abundant here due to the protection that the water gives.

Estuaries[edit]
Estuaries occur where there is a noticeable change in salinity between saltwater and freshwater sources. This is typically found where rivers meet the ocean or sea. The wildlife found within estuaries is quite unique as the water in these areas is brackish - a mix of freshwater flowing to the ocean and salty seawater. Other types of estuaries also exist and have similar characteristics as traditional brackish estuaries. The Great Lakes are prime example. There, river water mixes with lake water and creates freshwater estuaries. Estuaries are extremely productive ecosystems that many humans and animal species rely on for various different activities. This can be seen as, of the 32 largest cities in the world, 22 are located on estuaries as they provide many environmental and economic benefits such as crucial habitat for many species, and being economic hubs for many coastal communities. Estuaries also provide essential ecosystem services such as water filtration, habitat protection, erosion control, gas regulation nutrient cycling, and it even gives education, recreation and tourism opportunities to people.

Lagoons[edit]
Lagoons are areas that are separated from larger water by natural barriers such as coral reefs or sandbars. There are two types of lagoons, coastal and oceanic/atoll lagoons. A coastal lagoon is, as the definition above, simply a body of water that is separated from the ocean by a barrier. An atoll lagoon is a circular coral reef, or a number of coral islands that surround a lagoon. Atoll lagoons are often much deeper than coastal lagoons. Most lagoons are very shallow meaning that they are greatly affected by changed in precipitation, evaporation and wind. This means that salinity and temperature are widely varied in lagoons and that they can have water that ranges from fresh to hypersaline. Lagoons can be found in on coasts all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica and is an extremely diverse habitat being home to a wide array of species including birds, fish, crabs, plankton and more. Lagoons are also important to the economy as they provide a wide array of ecosystem services in addition to being the home of so many different species. Some of these services include fisheries, nutrient cycling, flood protection, water filtration and even human tradition.

Coral reefs[edit]
Main article: Coral reef

Coral reefs are the most diverse of any marine ecosystem with up to 25% of all marine species depending on coral reefs for habitat, shelter and reproduction. This diversity has often earned them the name "The Rainforests of the sea." Corals are found in deep and shallow oceans around the world and, in addition to supporting a huge range of wildlife, the biodiversity and productivity of coral reefs supports over 500 million people worldwide. They provide protection for coastlines against storms and erosion and the recreational activities and tourism that reefs can bring in contribute millions of dollars to locals economies with the economic value of the world's coral reefs being estimated to be tens of billions of U.S. dollars per year. Despite their productivity, reefs are also among one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world due to global warming with UNESCO warning that corals reefs could go extinct in all World Heritage sites by end of the 21st century if a reduction of greenhouse gases is not achieved. In recent years, corals have experienced mass bleaching events caused by increases in ocean temperature and local pressures. Prolonged bleaching will eventually kill corals and many reefs around the world have experienced their worst bleaching events on record with massive and famous reefs like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia having lost almost 50% of it's corals in 2016 and 2017 due to bleaching.

Deep sea and sea floor[edit]
Further information: deep sea community

The deep sea is very different from the Earth's surface. This area of the ocean is largely unexplored despite containing up to 95% of Earth's living space. As you dive deeper and deeper into the ocean, light begins to fade, temperatures begin to drop and pressure increases very quickly. At around 4,000 meters down, temperatures drop to near freezing and sunlight is completely absent. Even though these conditions are what some would consider inhospitable, life still exists at these depths. In recent years, thousands of species have been found that have adapted to these conditions and live in these dark depths. Even though we lack a large amount of understanding of the deep ocean with only about 1% it currently being explored, the deep sea still serves several purposes. This part of the ocean, along with many others, has ecological and scientific importance as every expedition to these depths reveals new species and forms of life, possibly providing technological advances through the better understanding of the biochemistry of these organisms. It also provides economic value as many fisheries are now targeting deeper areas of the ocean as overfishing having depleted many surface level fisheries.

Ecosystem services[edit]
Main article: Ecosystem services

Ecosystem services can be broadly defined as "benefits that people obtain from ecosystems." In addition to being extremely important for countless plant and animal species, marine ecosystems also provide many direct and indirect benefits to humans and support many aspects of our survival and quality of life. Human economies rely heavily on many ecosystem services that are provided my marine ecosystems as these ecosystems have many direct, indirect and nonuse values. Direct use values involve direct physical interaction and consumption with the ecosystem and its services. This includes fishing, transportation, recreation and tourism. Indirect use values include variables like nutrient retention and cycling, flood control, protection from storms, and habitat for species. These values are considered to be indirect because they stem from the protection of services that have measurable values. Nonuse values are those such as people simply knowing that an ecosystem exists or that it will be around for future generations to see and use. These types of values are particularly important to indigenous communities.

Despite all the services that marine ecosystems provide for people, the economic measurement of these services is difficult. Generally ecosystem services are not thought of or advertised as a resource and there are no explicit measurements of the values that they provide. In recent years, biodiversity loss caused by human exploitation, pollution, habitat destruction or indirectly through climate change have caused the decline of many ecosystem services provided by marine ecosystems like the ocean. This loss of biodiversity has been shown to cause increased rates of resources collapse and decrease in recovery potential, stability and water quality of marine ecosystems. This diversity loss seems to be increasing around the world and this trajectory may possibly cause the collapse of currently fished taxa by the mid 21st century.

Human exploitation and development[edit]
Human exploitation

Coastal marine ecosystems experience growing population pressures with nearly 40% of people in the world living within 100 km of the coast. Humans often aggregate near coastal habitats to take advantage of ecosystem services. For example, coastal capture fisheries from mangroves and coral reef habitats are estimated to be worth a minimum of $34 billion per year. Yet, many of these habitats are either marginally protected or not protected. Mangrove area has declined worldwide by more than one-third since 1950, and 60% of the world's coral reefs are now immediately or directly threatened. Human development, aquaculture, and industrialization often lead to the destruction, replacement, or degradation of coastal habitats.

Moving offshore, pelagic marine systems are directly threatened by overfishing. Global fisheries landings peaked in the late 1980s, but are now declining, despite increasing fishing effort. Fish biomass and average trophic level of fisheries landing are decreasing, leading to declines in marine biodiversity. In particular, local extinctions have led to declines in large, long-lived, slow-growing species, and those that have narrow geographic ranges. Biodiversity declines can lead to associated declines in ecosystem services. A long-term study reports the decline of 74–92% of catch per unit effort of sharks in Australian coastline from 1960s to 2010s.

Pollution[edit]
Aquatic pollution has been a constant problem in humans civilization, but aquatic pollution was not payed much attention until a level of pollution that caused negative effects to the environment was reached. Pollution is roughly defined by the United Nations as any substances or energy that humans put into marine environments which can cause or is likely to cause harm to living resources or life. These can include persistent organic pollutants, nutrients, oils, radionuclides, heavy metals, pathogens, sediments, litter debris and more. All these types of pollution can cause significant damage to ecosystems with excess nutrients causing harmful eutrophication, plastics trapping and choking marine life and inhibiting nutrient transfer and organic compounds bioaccumulating and magnifying up the food chain. These are just some of the threats that pollution poses to marine ecosystems. The threats of aquatic pollution are growing with some areas near human settlement being critically polluted. Nutrient concentrations such as nitrogen and phosphorus have been reported to be increasing in many major water bodies including the Baltic Sea, Dutch Sea, Japan, Sea, the Gulf of Thailand, the Indian Ocean and the bays and coasts of various other countries. These excess nutrients and compounds that are put into the environment are also causing the decline of many fish and marine species around the world, with most of the world's important fisheries being now being damaged in some way.

Invasive species[edit]
Ever since humans began traversing the world in ships, they have accidentally carried invasive species with them. Currently it is estimated that around 10,000 different species are being transported around the world in the ballast water of ships alone and this is just one of the ways that we can spread alien around the world. Ballast water is a large cause of the transferring of invasive species but there are actually 15 broad categories of vectors that can transport marine invasive species. These species are often a major threat to marine biodiversity and can cause severe changes to an ecosystem. They can cause severe biological consequences such as displacing and dominating local species and this can disrupt and change ecosystem services. Ballast water can also be a vector for transporting viral and bacterial pathogens that cause to animals and humans alike. Invasive species also have many economic and social impacts, mainly decreases in the economic production of many marine resources like fisheries as well as possibly negative effects on human health. Currently marine invasive species are becoming a a bigger and bigger problem as more species are continuing to be spread around the world by many different vectors while the methods of transport are not often addressed. These marine invasive species are a problem around the world and strategies need to be implemented to prevent their spread and growth to prevent damage to ecosystems and their services.