Talk:Tropical ecology

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I will be editing this article as a part of my coursework in the class "The History of Ecology" at Bucknell University. These are the sources I will be using.

Bibliography

Gamez, Rodrigo, and Alvaro Ugalde. 1988. “Costa Rica’s National Park System and the Preservation of Biological Diversity: Linking Conservation with Socio-economic Development.” Tropical Rain Forests: Diversity and Conservation, ed. Frank Almeda and Catherine M. Pringle. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences.

Kramer, Randall A., Carel van Schaik, and Julie Johnson. 1997. Last stand: protected areas and the defense of tropical biodiversity. New York: Oxford University Press.

Macedo, Regina H. 2010. Behavioral ecology of tropical animals. Amsterdam: Academic Press/Elsevier.

Osborne, Patrick L. 2000. Tropical ecosystems and ecological concepts. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

Prance, Ghillean T. 1982. Biological diversification in the tropics: proceedings of the fifth international symposium of the Association for Tropical Biology, held at Macuto Beach, Caracas, Venezuela, February 8-13, 1979. New York: Columbia University Press.

Richards, P.W. “What The Tropics Can Contribute to Ecology.” Presentation at the British Ecological Society, London, England, January 4, 1964.

Takacs, David. 1996. The Idea of Biodiversity: Philosophies of Paradise. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Whitmore, T. C., and Jeffrey Sayer. 1992. Tropical deforestation and species extinction. London: Chapman & Hall.

Aleary1 (talk) 02:31, 25 February 2014 (UTC)Aidan Leary

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Tropical Ecology Outline

Tropical Ecology is the study of the relationships between the biotic and abiotic components of the tropics, or the area of the Earth that lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.4378° N and 23.4378° S, respectively). The tropical climate experiences hot, humid weather and rainfall year round. While many might associate the region solely with the rainforests, the tropics are home to a wide variety of ecosystems that boast a great wealth of biodiversity, from exotic animal species to seldom-occurring flora. The burgeoning ecological study of the tropics has led to increased conservation and management education and programs.

The roots of Tropical Ecology can be traced to the exploration of European naturalists in the late 19th century. Men who might be considered early ecologists such as Alexander Von Humboldt, Thomas Belt, Henry Walter Bates, and even Charles Darwin sailed to tropical locations and were so astounded by the incredible biodiversity of the regions that they felt compelled to document the exotic flora and fauna they encountered. These early explorations and the subsequent writings about them comprise much of the early work of Tropical Ecology and served to spark further interest in the tropics among other naturalists.

A number of distinct ecosystems can be found throughout the tropics, including, but not limited to, deserts, grasslands, lakes, rivers, wetlands, forests, mountains, mangroves, and coral reefs. The most commonly studied and referenced ecosystem in the tropics is the rainforest. Rainforests are the subjects of extensive ecological research largely because they are wellsprings of biodiversity. Tropical rainforests collectively contain more than 30 million exotic plant and animal species. These species are not only important to the field of ecological study, but also to our modern society as a whole. It has been estimated that nearly 25% of the world's modern medicines have their roots in plants native to tropical forests. For these reasons, tropical ecosystems, like the rainforests, are often the main subjects of conversations concerning conservation and opposition to deforestation.

With all of this expansion of the field of tropical ecology and continued publication of essays, books, and articles concerning biodiversity in the tropics, the tropics have become central to the ongoing debate surrounding conservation. Tropical ecosystems have historically been and continue to be disturbed and even ravaged for economic purposes. In response to this rampant deforestation and resource depletion, in tropical locations all over the world, biodiversity institutes have been established and work to preserve the many ecosystems that exist on their land. These biodiversity institutes institute conservation and management practices in a number of ways, from fighting against corporate development on sites of ecological value to signing deals with pharmaceutical companies to promote cooperation in exploring tropical ecosystems for new medicines.

Aleary1 (talk) 15:42, 25 March 2014 (UTC)Aidan Leary

Wiki Work: Peer Review

This article is well written and composed richly with relevant content about Tropical ecology. It is very organized and contains no spelling or grammatical errors. The introduction does a good job of summarizing the article as a whole, but I could add a sentence about the origin of tropical ecology to give the reader a sense of how it originated. I would also reword the last sentence so there is only one "and."

The article is structured clearly with a few headings. I would add subheadings to make it easier for the reader locate specific aspects of tropical ecology- for example, I would add them to the "Origins" paragraph. I would also add a few images to emphasize the plant biodiversity within the tropics. It is appropriate how the "Significance of Tropical Ecology" section is placed at the end of the article. I might add to this section how tropics is relevant to modern society today, such as medicines or other resources.

The aspects of this topic are well balanced. I do not think any section dominates the article. Overall, the article does a good job of remaining neutral. In the very last sentence of the article, I wold rephrase "which makes for interesting study." This could be somewhat opinionated and also irrelevant.

The language emphasizes key information and all sources cited seem reliable. When citing your writing within the article, make sure you use the specific page number where you got your information from.

I would advise opening up the last paragraph and relating it more specifically to what research is happening in tropical ecology today. Overall this article is formulated professionally and is easy to understand. Well done!

Jcf028 (talk) 15:26, 9 April 2014 (UTC)jcf028

Some Suggestions

Firstly I’d just like to commend you on a job well done! Overall this article is clear, concise and very well written but I noticed a few small things that could be done to make it even better. I think the lead section does a good job of explaining the basics of tropical ecology but perhaps a few more sentences could be added that more clearly outline what the rest of the article is going to be talking about. In terms of structure the article is well laid out with appropriate headings and coverage for each sub-topic was well balanced with relevant information in each. Perhaps it would be beneficial to add a section that talked more about some of the recent advancements in tropical ecology to further enhance the readers understanding of how tropical ecology came to be what it is today and what is happening with it in the modern world. I also think the addition of picture would add to the overall structure of the article and benefit the page as a whole. I thought the content was very neutral and was pleased to see an array of sources used. However, some of the page ranges for the sources cited were rather large so maybe it would help if more citations were added with specific page numbers so a fact could be easily looked up in a book. In general, I was very impressed with this article and enjoyed reading about this topic!

Sarakpal (talk) 20:11, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Comments on the "Origins" section

Very well done on this draft. I appreciate the different organizational choices you've made here. I notice you've received some good feedback on images, structure, content, and references, so with my comments I want to focus mostly on the content and sources in the "Origins" section. I know you have on your bibliography a few sources about the history of tropical ecology, and I'd like to see more focus on those to develop the "origins" section. I'm thinking of the Takacs book and also some of the material we've read in this class from Richard Grove on ecology/natural history in the tropics during the 1700s. Some questions you might consider in the "origins" section, to help you develop it are: what other social and political motivations did naturalists have to study the tropics? what makes the study of the tropics different than the study of the temperate or arctic zones? what large questions did scientists try to answer in the tropics? I'm happy to talk more with you about these questions. I also think that a quick search through ProQuest or JSTOR with the search terms "history" and "tropical ecology" might turn up very useful sources on this. --Enstandrew (talk) 21:13, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Peer review comments

The lead in section does a great job of informing the reader and providing a broad overview of Tropical Ecology by mentioning locations, climate types, and the promotion of conservation within the field. One tip would be to include links within your lead in section to the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and biodiversity because some readers may want to learn more about these topics. The structure of the article is clear and easy to follow. The progression from the origins section to the conservation management and significance sections flow nicely. I would add an image that encompasses both the biotic and abiotic life within a tropical ecosystem to add some color to the article page. The article is well balanced and well rounded, providing a range of information from the voyages of ecologists to the impacts of institutions such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the Costa Rican National Biodiversity Institute. Maybe create another section that highlights the institutions that promote tropical ecology and biodiversity in order to give the readers a current view on this subject. The coverage of the article is mainly neutral. The first two sections do an excellent job of providing a well-rounded view of tropical ecology. For the significance of ecology in the tropics section, maybe add a source that describes the obstacles ecologists face when exploring and studying the tropics to even out the section. The sources reliable and include scholarly journals. I would add more footnotes within each section in order to guide readers to where you got your information. Overall, great job. Mrjohnson007 (talk) 00:03, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

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