User:Mintgreen01/Freshwater acidification/Entomological Peer Review

General info

 * Whose work are you reviewing?

Mintgreen01


 * Link to draft you're reviewing
 * Freshwater acidification draft
 * Link to the current version of the article (if it exists)
 * Freshwater acidification
 * Freshwater acidification

Evaluate the drafted changes
Starting off with the lead section, you put "Reducing Acidification" which I believe was the focus of your draft. So since you did not add to the lead section yet, I'll give you suggestions on how to alter the original articles lead.

The lead in the original article starts off well by immediately describing what the topic at hand is. However, it starts getting very detailed about the process which is making the lead section overwhelming with the information, while it's supposed to be short and simple. So for your draft, I suggest adding a new section titled "What contributes to freshwater acidity?" just to make the lead section more straightforward.

Roughly something like this:

What is freshwater acidification?
"Freshwater acidification occurs when acidic inputs enter a body of fresh water through the weathering of rocks, invasion of acidifying gas (e.g. carbon dioxide), or by the reduction of acid anions, like sulfate and nitrate within a lake."

And then placing the rest of the information presented in another separate heading afterwards such as this:

What contributes to freshwater acidity?
"Freshwater acidification is primarily caused by sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) entering the water from atmospheric depositions and soil leaching. Carbonic acid and dissolved carbon dioxide can also enter freshwaters in a similar manner associated with runoff through carbon dioxide-rich soils. Runoff that contains these compounds may incorporate acidifying hydrogen ions and inorganic aluminum, which can be toxic to marine organisms. Acid rain is also a contributor to freshwater acidification. It is created when SOx and NOx react with water, oxygen, and other oxidants within the clouds.

The buffering capacity of soils and bedrocks within the freshwater ecosystem can contribute to the acidity of the water. Each freshwater reservoir has a capacity to resist changes in pH, but an excess input of acids into the reservoir can cause the buffering capacity to decrease, eventually causing the water to become more acidic. An increase in atmospheric CO2 affects freshwater acidity as the more of it dissolves into the water, the more acidic it becomes. It is difficult to quantify the effects of anthropogenic CO2 due to the various carbon fluxes in freshwater ecosystems. High levels of freshwater acidification is harmful to various aquatic organisms. Nonetheless, there are many freshwater systems, including the Great Lakes, where the pH level could be decreasing, most likely due to CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere however, increased monitoring is necessary to determine the full effects of acidification on pH levels"

Moving on, the additional content you plan to add to the reducing acidification section is unbiased, you don't seem to take any specific side, you simply discuss how both the government and regular people can play a role in reducing acidification. It is also very relevant to your topic, showing how to reduce the negative effects of acidification, making it a great addition. Your draft is clear and well written, making it easy to read, so I didn't struggle understanding any part of it. The images in the article are also great to help understand the topic more. You expanded the information from the original article and gave a more in depth view of the different ways to reduce acidification, and your sources are reliable and up to date, it seems like they both have some good information, so good job!

A suggestion I have is maybe you can add a small part in the "Harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems" section discussing how these harmful effects are identified in freshwater. I peer reviewed the aquatic biomonitoring article earlier and it relates to your topic! Aquatic biomonitoring is used to figure out what the waters conditions are so perhaps you can briefly mention that or just link that wikipedia article within yours, for people to get a better understanding.

Another suggestion is in the "Freshwater vs. ocean acidification" section, the last sentence

"Without this salt-buffer, pH changes in freshwater tend to be more pronounced than in ocean water. In freshwater systems, newly released H+ ions are not buffered by as many bicarbonate (HCO3−) ions as ocean water. Therefore, freshwater biota tends to have a higher evolutionary pH tolerance than seawater biota."

does not have a citation. Maybe you can look into that and see where they found this piece of information from the reference list, or find your own source for it.

That's all the feedback I have for you friend, goodluck, you got this! :D