User:Lemonlime442/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
I am evaluating the Vancouver Island Marmot Article.

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because I learned about Vancouver Island Marmots recently in class and would love to learn more about them. This article is very important as it brings attention to the critically endangered Vancouver Island Marmot. My preliminary impressions of this article were very positive. I found the article very informative. It displayed data dating back to 1970s, along with data from 2021 to give the reader a comprehensive understanding of the current and historic population size, along with initiatives that have been successful in supporting the growth of the marmot population.

Evaluate the article
I enjoyed reading this article and learning a bit more about the Vancouver Island Marmot. Everything in the article is relevant to the topic, no information seemed distracting or unnecessary. The article was written in a neutral tone, presenting both opinions on a topic when necessary. However, I do have some feedback that I feel if implemented could improve the quality of the article. See below:

In the section Life history, habitat characteristics and population trends, life history and habitat characteristics are sufficiently addressed. However, information on population trends seems to be lacking. I think adding some research here about past and current population trends is needed. There is information about past and current populations included in the next two sections - Conservation status and Marmot Recovery Foundation but this information does not give the whole picture. The data presented is limited due to the headings. If you are able to do more research and add some information on population trends in the corresponding section, it would enhance the quality of the article. If not, I would recommended getting rid of that section or possibly adjusting it to be included in Conservation status or Marmot Recovery Foundation.

The Marmot Recovery Foundation section is quite informative. If possible, I think it would benefit from more information about current and future initiatives taking place at the foundation. The data from the success of past initiatives and past population sizes is great. I think the article needs more of that kind of information for more current and future years.

This article seems to have a good number of citations and references. I would recommend a couple more peer-reviewed journal articles and less websites to improve the quality of the information presented in the article. However, I acknowledge that peer-reviewed articles can be difficult to find on certain subjects. If possible, a couple more articles with the data missing in previous sections would be ideal. In addition, some more pictures or other graphics could be used to help describe where they are located on Vancouver island and what the ideal habitat looks like.

Overall, this article is a great starting place for information about Vancouver Island Marmots on wikipedia. I hope it can continue to be edited to reach a more comprehensive state.