User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
Shannon Myles
January 21st, 2019
A) The source of ecological information that was used is an article published in the scientific journal Aquatic Ecology. The journal publishes various peer-reviewed papers in the field of ecology in all types of aquatic environments. The Aquatic Ecology journal has been running since 1968 and has published 52 volumes since. Its publisher, Springer Netherlands describes the journal has “a multidisciplinary journal relating to processes and structures at different organizational levels.”
The specific journal article that was chosen for the assignment was: “The use of historical environmental monitoring data to test predictions on cross-scale ecological responses to alterations in river flows” (Collof et al. 2018). A paper that looked at data previously collected by hundreds of previous studies in the area to achieve a conclusion. By using the data already at hand, the scientists evaluated the impact of river flow modification to the ecosystem.
Citation: Colloff, M.J., Overton, I.C., Henderson, B.L. et al. Aquat Ecol (2018) 52: 133. https://doi-org.ezproxy.tru.ca/10.1007/s10452-018-9650-y
Link: https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.tru.ca/article/10.1007/s10452-018-9650-y
B) The paper is an academic, peer-reviewed research article.
C) The academic basis of Collof’s paper is obvious as he and all of his co-writers are experts in the field. A list of everyone that worked on the paper’s affiliations is available. Per example, the author, Matthew J. Collof is a member of the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University and CSIRO Land and Water in Canberra Australia. A list of all the in-text citations is provided in the references section of the article. All the references are themselves, academic papers. The Acknowledgments section of the research mentions that the paper has been reviewed by an anonymous reviewer. The citation goes like such: “We thank […] and an anonymous reviewer for their practical and constructive reviews of the manuscript.” (Collof et al. 2018). Finally, what distinguishes this paper research article from a review material is its precise methods and results. The paper describes how it proceeded to gather information on its subject and then shows the exact results collected. Even if the study used previously collected data from previous studies, it had a goal different than any of those researches. Collof and his team used specific methods that are outlined in the paper to evaluate their own research question based on data scientifically gathered.
