User:Gasawyer17/sandbox

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

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

Lead evaluation
Im not even really sure what this article is about

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

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

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

Images and media evaluation
One image is included, seems to be accurate based off of article.

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

Overall impressions
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
''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.''

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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 = A swamp is a kind of wetland that is forested. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in creating this environment. 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. 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 water or seawater. Some of the world's largest swamps are found along major rivers such as the Amazon, the Mississippi, and the Congo. '''

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

Draining
Historically, humans have drained swamps to provide additional land for agriculture and to reduce the threat of diseases borne by swamp insects and similar animals. 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 marsh or even to open water. Large areas of swamp were therefore lost or degraded. Louisiana provides a classic example of wetland loss from these combined factors. Europe has probably lost nearly half its wetlands. New Zealand lost 90 percent of its wetlands over a period of 150 years. Ecologists recognise that swamps provide valuable ecological services including flood control, fish production, water purification, carbon storage, and wildlife habitat. In many parts of the world authorities protect swamps. In parts of Europe and North America, swamp restoration projects are becoming widespread. Often the simplest steps to restoring swamps involve plugging drainage ditches and removing levees.

Land value, productivity and conservation
Swamps and other wetlands have traditionally held a very low property value compared to fields, prairies, or woodlands. They have a reputation for being unproductive land that cannot easily be utilized for human activities, other than perhaps hunting and 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 water and oxygen to all life, and that they are often breeding grounds for a wide variety of species. Indeed, floodplain swamps are extremely important in fish production. 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. Conservationists work to preserve swamps such as those in northwest Indiana in the United States Midwest that were preserved as part of the Indiana Dunes. The problem of invasive species has also been put into greater light such as in places like the Everglades.

Notable examples
Swamps can be found on all continents except Antarctica.

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

Africa
The Sudd and the Okavango Delta  are Africa's best known marshland areas. The Bangweulu Floodplains make up Africa's largest swamp.

Asia
The Tigris-Euphrates river system 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 kmalong 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 440000 sqkmtropical peat swamp, about 210000 sqkmare located in Indonesia (Page, 2001; Wahyunto, 2006).

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

North America
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 but it has been greatly altered by logging, drainage and levee construction. 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
The world's largest wetlands include significant areas of swamp, such as in the Amazon and Congo River basins. Further north, however, the largest wetlands are bogs.

Africa

 * Bangweulu Swamps, Zambia
 * Mare aux Songes, Mauritius* Niger Delta, Nigeria
 * Okavango Swamp, Botswana
 * Sudd, South Sudan

Asia

 * Asmat Swamp, Indonesia
 * Candaba Swamp in Apalit and Candaba, Pampanga and Pulilan, Bulacan, Philippines
 * Mangrove Swamp in Karachi, Pakistan
 * Myristica Swamp in Western Ghats, India
 * Ratargul Swamp Forest in Sylhet, Bangladesh
 * Sundarbans in India and Bangladesh
 * Vasyugan Swamp, Russia

Europe



 * Pripyat Marshes, Belarus
 * Šúr, Slovakia

North America

 * Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana, United States
 * Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, United States
 * Barley Barber Swamp, Florida, United States
 * Cache River, Illinois, United States
 * Caddo Lake, Texas/Louisiana, United States
 * Congaree Swamp, South Carolina, United States
 * Everglades, Florida, United States
 * First Landing State Park, Virginia, United States
 * Great Black Swamp, Indiana/Ohio, United States
 * Great Cypress Swamp, Delaware and Maryland, United States, also known as Great Pocomoke Swamp
 * Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina/Virginia, United States
 * Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey, United States
 * Green Swamp, Florida, United States
 * Green Swamp, North Carolina, United States
 * Honey Island Swamp, Louisiana, United States
 * Hudson Bay Lowlands, Ontario, Canada
 * Limberlost, Indiana, United States
 * Louisiana swamplands, Louisiana, United States
 * Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Puxico, Missouri, United States
 * Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia/Florida, United States
 * Pantanos de Centla, Tabasco/Campeche, Mexico
 * Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee/Kentucky, United States
 * Texas Swamplands, Texas, United States

South America

 * Amazon, Brazil
 * Caribbean Lowlands, Colombia
 * Esteros del Iberá, Argentina
 * Lahuen Ñadi, Chile
 * Pantanal, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay
 * Paraná Delta, Argentina