User:Selaginellaa/sandbox

Content:
Content is all relevant to the article. Information is given about the drilling project, locations, as well as a related follow-up project. More detail or a new section on the purpose of this project must be added.

Tone:
The article remains mostly neutral throughout, deviating in the introduction section where an opinion was given about the site location. This could be reworded to be more neutral, along with an added citation.

Sources:
The article relies heavily on primary sources - secondary or tertiary sources must be added. Research papers are the main citations.

Checking the Talk Page:
This article is rated as Start-Class, Mid-importance. It is part of WikiProjects: Greenland, Environment, and Glaciers. There was discussion and subsequent addition of a sentence about the purpose of this project. There was also discussion about controversial findings and opposing viewpoints, though this section seems to have been removed from the text.

Article 1: Productivity (ecology)

 * The section on primary production must be expanded upon. As well, there are no citations for this section.


 * Another possible section to be added: Environmental Factors Affecting Productivity.


 * The majority of the sources listed are for definitions of terms. More sources will be added as sections are expanded upon and more are added.
 * This article is rated Stub-Class, High-importance.

Article 2: Soil acidification

 * Citations needed for sections: introduction, "Rainfall is acidic", "Biological weathering", "Rocks in the Soil", "Effects".
 * Sections could be expanded upon, especially "Pollution" and "Effects".
 * Possible section to be added about remediation of soil acidification. As well, more information on why it is a problem, where it is occurring, and a more detailed geochemical explanation.
 * The article is rated Start-Class, Mid-importance.

Article 3: Effluent

 * More citations needed on "Background" section.
 * Example of effluent from sugar beet processing seemed out of place in this "Background" section.
 * Organization needs work, as well more sections should be added about the environmental impact, and treatment.

Adding a citation:
Citation added to "Biological Weathering" section of Soil acidification.

Copyedit:
Original text:

"Plants utilize all these alkali elements as they grow, each important to some aspect of cell tissue development and growth. Where plant material is removed, as when a forest is logged or crops are harvested, the base elements they have taken up are permanently lost from the soil."

Edited:

"Plants use alkali elements as they grow, and when plant material is removed through activities such as logging or crop harvesting, they are permanently lost from the soil."

Some grammatical and formatting errors in the article were also edited.

Drafting my article

 * change organization: Header for "Causes" with each heading 1-5 becoming sub-headings instead.  Another header for "Effects" and an additional section on "Prevention and Management".
 * will also organize the causes from most to least importance
 * add citations
 * copyedit sentences, remove redundant sentences

Introduction
Soil acidification is the buildup of hydrogen cations, which reduces the soil pH. Chemically, this happens when a proton donor gets added to the soil. The donor can be an acid, such as nitric acid, sulfuric acid, or carbonic acid. It can also be a compound such as aluminium sulfate, which reacts in the soil to release protons. Acidification also occurs when base cations such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium are leached from the soil.

Soil acidification naturally occurs as lichens and algae begin to break down rock surfaces. Acids continue with this dissolution as soil develops. With time and weathering, soils become more acidic in natural ecosystems. Soil acidification rates can vary, and increase with certain factors such as acid rain, agriculture, and pollution.

Acid Rain
Rainfall is naturally acidic due to carbonic acid forming from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This compound causes rainfall pH to be around 5.0-5.5. When rainfall has a lower pH than natural levels, it can cause rapid acidification of soil. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are precursors of stronger acids that can lead to acid rain production when they react with water in the atmosphere. These gases may be present in the atmosphere due to natural sources such as lightning and volcanic eruptions, or from anthropogenic emissions. Basic cations like calcium are leached from the soil as acidic rainfall flows, which allows aluminum and proton levels to increase.

Biological Weathering
Plant roots acidify soil by releasing protons and organic acids so as to chemically weather soil minerals. Decaying remains of dead plants on soil may also form organic acids which contribute to soil acidification. Acidification from leaf litter on soil is more pronounced under coniferous trees such as pine, spruce and fir, which return fewer base cations to the soil, than under deciduous trees. When plant material is removed through activities such as logging or crop harvesting, the base elements within are permanently lost from the soil.

Parent Material
Certain parent materials also contribute to soil acidification. Granites and their allied igneous rocks are called "acidic" because they have a lot of free quartz, which produces silicic acid on weathering. Also, they have relatively low amounts of calcium, magnesium, and other bases meaning they are more likely to experience acidification. Some sedimentary rocks such as shale and coal are rich in sulfides, which, when hydrated and oxidized, produce sulfuric acid which is much stronger than silicic acid.

Effects
Soil acidification can cause damage to plants and organisms in the soil. In plants, soil acidification results in smaller, less durable roots. Acidic soils sometimes damage the root tips restricting further growth. Plant height is impaired and seed germination also decreases. Soil acidification impacts plant health, resulting in reduced cover and lower plant density. Soil acidification is directly linked to a decline in endangered species of plants.

In the soil, acidification reduces microbial and macrofaunal diversity. This can reduce soil structure decline which makes it more sensitive to erosion. There are less nutrients available in the soil, larger impact of toxic elements to plants, and consequences to soil biological functions (such as nitrogen fixation).

At a larger scale, soil acidification is linked to losses in agricultural productivity due to these effects.

Prevention and Management
Soil acidification is a common issue in long-term crop production which can be reduced by lime application. In soybean and corn crops grown in acidic soils, lime application resulted in nutrient restoration, increase in soil pH, increase in root biomass, and better plant health.

Different management strategies may also be applied to prevent further acidification: using less acidifying fertilizers, considering fertilizer amount and application timing to reduce nitrate-nitrogen leaching, good irrigation management with acid-neutralizing water, and considering the ratio of basic nutrients to nitrogen in harvested crops. Sulfur fertilizers should only be used in responsive crops, with a high rate of crop recovery.

Anthropogenic sources of sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides are a large contributor to an increase in acid rain production. The use of fossil fuels and motor exhaust are the largest anthropogenic contributors to sulfuric gases and nitrogen oxides, respectively. Through reduction of these sources and air-pollution control measures, acid rain and soil acidification have both decreased in northeastern American and eastern Canadian forests.

Peer Reviews

 * 1) Limnetic zone - Waffles82

Your draft is grammatically well-written in a neutral tone and all the information is relevant to the topic. I liked your use of links - they link to related and useful articles that will help the reader further understand this topic and freshwater bodies. The sources used are recent and scholarly sources. I would continue with information about what organisms live in this zone, and maybe a further description of the habitat (ex. depth of this zone). Overall, it is a good introduction paragraph. Great work!

2. Climate Change and ecosystems - Acostadc

I like the information you've added to the sections of this article. The introduction sentence to the polar bear section was a good summation of the reasons this species is affected by climate change. I would consider looking at some sentence structure, but the tone is neutral and the information is all relevant. The freshwater ecosystem section is very informative and I think you chose a good scholarly source to back it up. Good job so far!

Reflective Essay
During this process and when evaluating articles I learned that Wikipedia has many guidelines on the information and tone published for each article. I have also learned that each article is given a class type, and is examined to help editors create the most complete and accurate articles possible on each topic. When critiquing my article I looked at the class type, the talk page, and each section. I looked in detail at each section, considering tone, gaps in information, and missing citations. I decided to add to sections that were short and incomplete, as well as add citations and create new sections where needed.

In my article, Soil Acidification, I began finding citations where they were missing which was in most sections. As well, I copy-edited most sections because they seemed to be closely paraphrased to other Wikipedia articles (Acid Rain, and Biological Weathering). After this, I used the sources I had found to add new information to each section and added a section on Prevention and Management because it was not mentioned in the article. I feel that these were valuable additions because they contained relevant information from many scholarly and credible sources. Additionally, I removed some information from the introduction paragraph and other sections that were redundant. I think that the newest version is more succinct and complete, with only relevant information that has been properly cited.

The peer review process included finding two articles written by students to give constructive feedback. This was written on the students' talk page for them to read and consider when moving forward. In my reviews I told the students where I felt they had made good additions to the article regarding information, tone, citation, and grammar. As well, if necessary I added a note of where any of those points needed work, or gave ideas of what I think could be added to improve the article. In the review I received I found valuable feedback that also focused on areas of improvement as well as where my article edits were succeeding. My review suggested that I continue to add detail to each section, especially to the Effects section of the article. It was also suggested that I rename some headings of my article to be more relevant. I found this helpful, and considered it when continuing my editing process.

I have not yet received feedback from other Wikipedia editors, but if I did I would handle it by considering what they said and reflecting on my edits. I would either make any changes they suggest, or respond stating my view. After the issue is sorted, I would thank the user.

From contributing to Wikipedia I have learned that it is a good place to learn general information on a topic, and find links and sources to further information. It is a place where many people can share their knowledge, and it will have been checked and examined by many other editors and by Wikipedia. Many articles have been worked on for a long period of time and by many people. This leads to a certain standard that can be found in higher-rated articles. Wikipedia is similar to other assignments I've done as it requires planning and scholarly sources when information is given. It is different from other assignments as there are many people who can view my work as it is being completed and change or comment on it. Wikipedia can increase public knowledge on this topic and field by giving the public a general base of information given in the format of an encyclopedia. This is an important start to gaining a good body of knowledge on the topic. As well, the format of Wikipedia is very accessible to all audiences, giving a brief and understandable overview on each topic.

Overall, Wikipedia is a great platform for users and the public to get their first impression of any topic. What they learn has been edited many times by many different peoples' perspectives. This generally will give a reliable source of information on anything they are looking for.