User:BlossomN/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Coral bleaching - Wikipedia

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
This article offers information on the health and survival of an important environmental system, the coral reefs. By providing information on such an important topic, more people can gain knowledge about the anthropogenic and natural processes that control and cause coral bleaching and the options available for recovery and prevention. The article was informative and comprehensive, however, more work is required to make it cohesive and understandable.

Evaluate the article
The article is informative and comprehensive; however, it still can be improved. I have some minor suggestions:


 * There are various grammatical and sentence errors throughout the paper that need to be corrected and cleaned up:

-       “Normally, coral polyps live in an endosymbiotic relationship with these algae, which are crucial for the health of the coral and the reef”: Instead of the second part of this sentence, it would be more sensible to talk about the relationship and what the coral polyps and the algae provide for each other.

-       “Negative environmental conditions, such as abnormally warm or cool temperatures, high light”: Instead of high light, extensive light exposure would be more fitting.

-       “During this time, over 70 percent of the coral reefs around the world have become damaged”: Became should be used rather than have become.

-       “Scientists believe that the oldest known bleaching was that of the Late Devonian (Frasnian/Famennian)”: This should be moved to the second paragraph.

-       “The loss of specialization likely to contributes to loss of resilience in coral reef ecosystems after bleaching events”: It should be likely contributes instead of likely to contributes.


 * Certain paragraphs need to be moved, taken out or reorganized:

-       “In 2017, the bleaching extended into the central region of the reef”: This sentence should be taken out.

-       Information on the impacts of mass bleaching or on rebuilding or recovery efforts need to be added to the lead section.

-       Instead of having just a list of triggers, each trigger should have an accompanying section.

-       “In 2016, the longest coral bleaching event was recorded”: This sentence should be taken out.

-       “According to Clive Wilkinson of Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network of Townsville”: This paragraph should also be taken out.

-       The sections on the impacts of coral bleaching in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans need to be reorganized to be made more cohesive. Some sections such as Jarvis Island, Japan, Maldives, Thailand, and the United States need more information.

-       The sections ‘Monitoring reef sea surface temperature’ and ‘Changes in ocean chemistry” should be included as causes of coral bleaching rather than impacts.

-       There should also be information included on the environmental value of corals.


 * Like most other articles on environmental issues, this one reads as a warning on the impacts that our actions can have on the health of coral reef systems. Although it is true that climate change and warming temperatures have a significant effect on the rate and extent of coral bleaching, there are other factors that have an equally if not more important effect. In several sections, the article does not specify if death was due to bleaching or to other factors. Whenever possible, death and damage primarily due to coral bleaching should be stated as such and kept distinct from death due to other circumstances. This should be done in the following sections:

-       “Some locations suffered severe damage, with up to 90% mortality.”

-       “In South Florida, a 2016 survey of large corals from Key Biscayne to Fort Lauderdale found that about 66% of the corals were dead or reduced to less than half of their live tissue.”

-       “Hard coral cover on reefs in the Caribbean have declined by an estimated 80%, from an average of 50% cover in the 1970s to only about 10% cover in the early 2000s.”


 * Most of the discussions on the talk page surround the inclusion of more reliable sources of material, editing, and the removal of inappropriate or unnecessary information.


 * The are some sources that are unsuitable or not even cited. Uncited material in the following sections should either be taken out or have their citations added:

-       "oxygen starvation caused by an increase in zooplankton levels as a result of overfishing.”

-       “elevated sea levels due to global warming (Watson)”

-       “According to Clive Wilkinson of Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network of Townsville”

-       The ‘Recovery and macroalgal regime shifts’ section mentions Emma Camp and their research on super-corals but cites their website as the source of information.


 * Overall, the article is well written and well sourced. It clearly outlines the causes and triggers of coral bleaching, the effects of such events, and response and recovery options available. However, the article could still be made more cohesive. Fixing grammatical and sentence errors would be an appropriate place to begin to improve and refine the article.