User talk:NatalieRHolmes/Planktivore
Hi NatalieRHolmes - My name is Jolie, and I'm the Project Coordinator for the WikiProject Limnology & Oceanography team. Your external review for your article on planktivores is posted below. If you have any questions about your review, or would like to clarify anything, please feel free to let me know by posting a message on my talk page and I'll pass it along to your external reviewer. Thanks, and all the best as you wrap up your Wikipedia editing assignment!
EXTERNAL REVIEW - Hi NatalieRHolmes, I’m a limnologist and biogeochemist from southern Ontario, Canada. My research mostly focuses on carbon movement and transformation in aquatic systems – although I've done some work on bacteria, algae, and phytoplankton as well.
You've done a really good job improving the page on planktivores! In particular, I think you've added a lot of really good references to the page, which helps to improve the credibility of the information that's presented. You've also made some important contributions by adding subsections to existing sections of the article. I have some specific suggestions for you to consider as you wrap up your article - I've listed these below:
- One further improvement you could make to the planktivore page would be to go through the text that was written by previous contributors and add cross-references to other Wikipedia pages. For example, you could add a link to the page on corals where they're mentioned in the Forms of Planktivory section (the page is pretty well cross-referenced already, but you may be able to find a few other places to add links). Cross-referencing to other Wikipedia pages allows the reader to easily access more information.
- "Zooplankton are heterotrophic plankton, which are animals that ingest nutrients rather than producing it via chemical reactions" - in this statement, change the text to read "...rather than producing them via chemical reactions."
- The list of marine planktivores is quite a bit shorter than the list of freshwater ones - could you add a few marine species to even this out? For example, you could list a few species of whales, or some species that live on the ocean floor and that passively eat organic detritus that rains down from the photic zone.
- In your list of freshwater species - I think you can remove all of the scientific names. They aren't really necessary, and can be a bit distracting for the reader.
- "Some examples of invasive freshwater planktivores, organisms that are not originally from the area..." Can you specify what you mean by not from the area? Do you mean that they're actually marine species that are invasive in freshwater ecosystems?
- Great job adding the section on Ecological and Biogeochemical Significance! This is a really great addition to the page, and you've done an excellent job writing a lot of information in a clear and accessible manner. My one big suggestion for this section is to add links to other Wikipedia pages wherever you can (e.g., water quality, trophic level, sharks, seabirds, sea turtles, etc...)
- "Since planktivores eat plankton, planktivore presence and their abundance also indicates the health of an ecosystem by implying changes to water quality, water temperature, trophic level interactions, and sources of nutrients flowing to and from a water body." Can you add a reference to support this statement?
- The subsection on the Effects on Water Quality is really good - but needs more references. Ideally, I think you could add one suitable reference per sentence.
- In the subsection on the Role in Nutrient Cycling, can you explain a bit more how studies on planktivore/plankton interactions help people better understand marine management issues? This is a really interesting statement, but I think it's a bit unclear as written.
Again, great job on your Wikipedia assignment, and all the best as you make the last edits and changes to your page! I look forward to reading the final version of your article!