Hello, Jjt022, and welcome to Wikipedia! My name is Yunshui, and I am your Online Ambassador for Bucknell's History of Ecology course. My job here is to help you to work within Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, to answer any questions that you have about editing here, and to act as your advocate in the (unlikely) event that you find yourself in a dispute with another user.

You are welcome to contact me at any time by leaving a message on my Wikipedia talkpage or by emailing me. I will usually respond to any messages within 24 hours (though I aim to be faster!), but if you need more immediate help, you can ask questions of experienced editors at The Teahouse or get live help via Wikipedia's IRC channel (connect here).

Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. Once again, if you need help with any aspect of Wikipedia, please just ask; it's what I'm here for. Enjoy your course! Yunshui  08:48, 22 January 2014 (UTC)Reply

Nice work! edit

  The Original Barnstar
You've learned how to use basic wikicode in your sandbox. You can always return there to experiment more.

Posted automatically via sandbox guided tour. Jjt022 (talk) 04:23, 28 January 2014 (UTC)Reply

Reminders for class on Tuesday, 2/4 edit

Hi Joe! A quick note to check in and share some reminders. How have the Wiki readings been going? Do you have any questions about them? We will be evaluating Alexander von Humbold'ts Wikipedia page on Tuesday in discussion, so be sure to review the Evaluating Wikipedia article quality brochure. Also, remember that you have two other things due Tuesday: creating a User Page and introducing yourself to an online ambassador or another student through their Talk Pages. You've already created a userpage, which is great! What I'd like you to do is add to it--tell readers about your interests in history, the environment, or science. This will be helpful for future interactions you have with other Wikipedians. Let me know if you have any questions! --Enstandrew (talk) 18:36, 31 January 2014 (UTC)Reply

    Hi Enstandrew!  The Wiki readings have been going well, and I am starting to get a strong understanding of how to successfully contribute to Wikipedia.  Also, I will be sure to introduce myself to another Wikipedian tonight and add to my userpage.  See you in class tomorrow! Jjt022 (talk) 04:37, 4 February 2014 (UTC)Jjt022Reply

Talkback edit

 
Hello, Jjt022. You have new messages at Yunshui's talk page.
Message added 08:37, 4 February 2014 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.Reply

By the way, this thing ↑ is a talkback message - you can post one on another users page by writing {{tb}}. It's useful for letting people know you've replied to them. Yunshui  08:37, 4 February 2014 (UTC) Yunshui  08:37, 4 February 2014 (UTC)Reply

Interesting Studies! edit

Hi, Joe. Just wanted to say I appreciated and found interesting the information on your user page. Your Foundations seminar sounds fantastic! I wonder who taught this? And it sounds like you studied Kuhn's work, which we talked about during the first week of the course. Looking forward to reading your work here. --Enstandrew (talk) 18:59, 5 February 2014 (UTC)Reply

Arctic Ecology outline edit

I have just finished working with Eeb017 on a new outline for the Arctic ecology page and we would appreciate any feedback--questions, comments, suggestions--if you have any:


Arctic ecology is the scientific study of the relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in the arctic, the region north of the Arctic Circle (66 33’). This is a region characterized by stressful conditions as a result of extreme cold, low precipitation, a limited growing season (50–90 days) and virtually no sunlight throughout the winter. The Arctic consists of taiga (or boreal forest) and tundra biomes, which also dominate very high elevations, even in the tropics. Sensitive ecosystems exist throughout the Arctic region, which are being impacted dramatically by global warming. The Arctic region features a vast range of organisms, each of which have their own specific roles in the environment. Vegetation in the Arctic consists of many species such as various sedges and cottongrasses. Common animals found here include the moose, reindeer, various marmots, wolves, and others. Organisms are divided among various subregions within the Arctic based on differing biotic and abiotic factors.

Throughout history, indigenous people have thrived in the Arctic despite its harsh conditions, and their lifestyles are based on a combination of economic and cultural values. Subsistence hunting is a prevalent aspect of the society of the indigenous Arctic people and it is done not only out of necessity but also for cultural reasons. Recently, Arctic Canada has been the target of animals rights campaigns to ban sealing, which would interfere with its indigenous peoples’ way of life. Along with subsistence hunting, industrial uses of the region’s resources, such as fishing and mining, are also pursued extensively by the region’s inhabitants. The region’s people depend substantially on the environment and resources of the Arctic, so climate change is especially concerning regarding their sustainability. Because of their dependence on the land and its resources, indigenous peoples have played a large role in helping to establish environmental policies to better preserve the Arctic.

As the Northern ecosystems, including the arctic, boreal forest and northern bogs contain 25% of the world’s carbon pools, a positive feedback loop occurring in the Arctic is largely involved in climate change. As the permafrost melts due to warming global temperatures, the carbon stored within the permafrost is released and further induces climatic changes. Also, higher temperatures increase soil decomposition and if soil decomposition becomes higher than net primary production, global atmospheric carbon dioxide will in turn increase. Atmospheric sinks in the water table are also being reduced as the permafrost melts and decreases the height of the water table in the Arctic.

Because of the Arctic’s distinct and fragile conditions, research has been frequently conducted there by teams of scientists. A noteworthy Arctic scientific expedition was the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-1916 led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Arctic research has been frequently aided by local knowledge from the Arctic indigenous peoples. In 1946, The Arctic Research Laboratory was established under the contract of the Office of Naval Research in Point Barrow, Alaska for the purpose of investigating the physical and biological phenomena unique to the Arctic. In 1948, Dr. Laurence Irving was appointed as the Scientific Director of the Arctic Research Laboratory and put in charge of coordinating various projects. Scientists performed fieldwork to collect data that linked new observations to prior widely accepted knowledge. Through the processes of soil sampling, surveying and photographing landscapes and distributing salmon tags, scientists demonstrated the significance of historical case studies in the study of environmental science. The ability to compare past and present data allowed scientists to understand the causes and effects of ecological changes. In the 1950’s, ecologists such as Frank Banfield and John Kelsall were drawn to the Arctic to study the existence, causes and effects of cycles in animal populations. The 1960’s and 1970’s brought a decrease in the desire to protect the Arctic as it was seen to lack a significant amount of biodiversity. As a result, study and management of the Arctic was taken over by consulting firms hired and controlled by the government.

Jjt022 (talk) 20:50, 25 March 2014 (UTC)Jjt022Reply

April 2014 edit

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  • abbr=on}} thick. Plant species supported by tundra have small leaves, are short (74&nbsp;mm to <5 m), tend to be deciduous, have a high ratio of roots to shoots, and are composed mainly of
  • data in the Arctic in the early nineteenth century. In June 1831, [James Clark Ross|Sir James Ross]] and a group of [[Eskimo|Eskimos]] explored the Booth Peninsula in order to determine the exact

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, BracketBot (talk) 04:35, 8 April 2014 (UTC)Reply