User:Babethoven/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
California oak woodland - California oak woodland

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
We chose to evaluate this article as California oak woodlands are highly applicable to the concepts and themes explored through our California Natural History course. In particular, California oak woodlands are a common part of the natural landscape of California, and play a large role in our understanding of the ecological relationships and foundations of this state. We also chose to evaluate this article because it seems to be a bit sparse, and can have a lot of potential room for critique and improvement.

Evaluate the article
To begin, the article is concise and clear, and is written in a neutral tone. The lead section and California oak-woodland communities sections did a good job of creating a strong base understanding of this type of community, and providing relevant and varied examples. I believe the key factor that is missing from this article is the mention of the biodiversity and ecology of these communities. The article briefly mentions the biodiversity of California oak-woodland ecosystems, but makes no mention of the types of animal life it sustains. Additionally, there is no mention of the interactions between the different species of trees in these communities and how they collectively contribute to the larger ecosystem. Regarding sourcing, this article lacks a sufficient number of sources that draw from a number of different backgrounds, and most of the sources used are slightly outdated (10-20 years old at least). An increased amount and variety of sources would help strengthen the article; however it should be mentioned that all of the current sources are reliable. Finally, the article does not make use of many media sources/images to enhance its information about the California oak woodlands. The final overall impressions this article leaves are that the sections completed have a strong foundation, but there are several gaps in information that can be added and enhanced through further edits.