Watershed Precis

In an article in the journal Regional Science and Urban Economics titled “Watershed Development Restrictions and Land Prices: Empirical Evidence From Southern Appalachia,” the author John F. Chamblee et al. argues the importance of watershed protection. The authors use a plethera of historical data as well as mathematical data to illustrate the value of the established watershed being assessed. Chamblee et al. is aiming to make people realize how crutial these watersheds are to everyday life. The intended audiences for this article are ecological professionals as well as land developers.

Chamblee, John F., et al. “Watershed Development Restrictions and Land Prices: Empirical Evidence From Southern Appalachia.” Regional Science and Urban Economics 39.3 (2009): 287-96. Science Direct. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.

Chapter 13 Precis

In Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer’s book “Good Reasons” advise the readers about successful proposal writing skills and their benefits. The authors use numerous examples of these skills to accurately portray their topic to the audience, with further insight into these examples. Faigley and Selzer’s purpose in this chapter is to help individuals successfully write proposals of their own. The audience of this chapter is aimed toward students and/or working professionals desiring to enhance their writing abilities.

Scholarly Article Precis 5

In an article in the journal Biological Conservation titled “Assessment of long-term tallgrass prairie restoration in Manitoba, Canada” written by S.M. McLachlan and A.L. Knispel adresses the damage on native tallgrass prairies caused by urban expansion. McLachlan and Knispel developed an experiment in Beaudry Provincial Park in southern Manitoba to test certain management practices and their success in restoring native tallgrass prairies. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the tested management practices in reestablishing native prairie grasslands. McLachlan and Knispel’s intended audience for this article are management proffessionals due to the use of field related terminology.

Knispel, A.L., McLachlan, S.M.. “Assessment of long-term tallgrass prairie restoration in Manitoba, Canada.” Biological Conservation 124.1 (2005): 75-88. Science Direct. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

Scholarly Article Precis 4

In an article in the journal Soil Biologyand Biochemistry titled “Soil texture affects soil microbial and structural recovery during grassland recovery” written by Elizabeth M. Bach, Sara G. Baer, Clinton K. Meyer, and Johan Six demonstrates the importance soil structure and microbial activity have on the success of plant growth in a grassland environment. The authors use a plethera of scientific data showing how tilling soil desrupts structure as well as the necessary microbial activity needed to have a successful grassland. Their purpose in this article is to stress how important soil structure and microbial activity are to the success of grassland species. The authors’ intended audience for this article is biological and ecological proffessionals due to their use of field related terminology.

Bach, Elizabeth M., Baer, Sara G., Meyer, Clinton K., Six, Johan. “Soil texture affects soil microbial and structural recovery during grassland recovery.” Soil Biologyand Biochemistry 42.12 (2010): 2182-2191. Science Direct. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

Scholarly Article Precis 3

In an article in the Journal of Environmental Management titled “Restoration of foothills rough fescue grassland following pipeline disturbance in southwestern Alberta” by Peggy Desserud, C. Cormack Gates, Barry Adams, and Richard D. Revel stresses the complications of many restoration practices aimed toward restoring fescue grassland in southern Alberta. The authors used extensive scientific data including species lists and specific experiments to test their theories about effectiveness of certain restoration practices. The authors’ apparent purpose in this article is to shed some light on how futile many of these practices are. The authors’ intended audience for this article are biological and ecological professionals due to the presentation of the scientific data.

Adams, Barry, Desserud, Peggy, Gates C. Cormack, Revel, Richard D. “Restoration of foothills rough fescue grassland following pipeline disturbance in southwestern Alberta.”Journal of Environmental Management 91.12 (2010): 2763-2770. Science Direct. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

Scholarly Article Precis 2

In an article written by Miryl Parker and Ralph Mac Nally in the journal Biological Conservation titled Habitat loss and the habitat fragmentation threshold: an experimental evaluation of impacts on richness and total abundances using grassland invertebrates (2002) asserts the importance of limiting habitat fragmentation, due to the negative effects on the fauna in the area. Parker and Mac Nally performed a series of experiments to illustrate the these negative effects on grassland invertebrates with extensive documentation of any and all changes in population densities as well as species richness. Parker and Mac Nally’s purpose in these experiments were to shed some light on what really happens when anthropogenic fragmentation occurs. Their intended audience for this paper must have been aimed toward the biological profession with the use of biological concepts.

Parker, Miryl, Mac Nally, Ralph. “Habitat loss and the habitat fragmentation threshold: an experimental evaluation of impacts on richness and total abundances using grassland invertebrates.” Biological Conservation 105.2 (2002): 217-229. Science Direct. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320701001847

Scholarly Article Precis

Andrew Morozov's article in the Journal of Theoretical Biology titled Abundance patterns in multi-species communities exposed to habitat destruction (2008) argues the severity of habitat destruction in the world. Morozov uses numerous examples supported by statistical analysis of each situation containing percentage of the habitat permanently lost as well as recolonization rates. In this article, Morozov appears to be stressing the importance of habitat conservation in all environments to support biodiversity. Morozov appears to be aiming his article toward biological professionals such as wildlife biologists as well as other powerful individuals capable of affecting change in the realm of conservation.

Morozov, Andrew."Abundance patterns in multi-species communities exposed to habitat destruction." Journal of Theoretical Biology 251.4 (2008): 593-605. Science Direct. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.

10 Questions

1.      Is gun control going to prevent future violence (ie school shootings)?

2.      Is there a valid threat of a zombie appocalypse?

3.      Is there a way to reverse the damage caused by urban expansion(ie loss of natural habitat across the world)

4.      How do multiple concussions in a persons younger years (12-17) effect them as adults?

5.      Is there intelligent life in the universe aside from the human race?

6.      Is there another ice age coming?

7.      Is bigfoot real?

8.      Is cloning going to shape the future?

9.       history repeats itself?

10.   Is technology making us “dumber”?

Should Information Be Free?

After reading an article written by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker titled Priced To Sell, there was a great question lingering in my head, should all information be free? Of course, I'm not talking about information pertaining to topics that can be harmful to the public, although I am talking about academic information as well as newspapers and magazines. To be honest, I believe that information of that type should be paid for, to an extent. Perhaps having a website that you pay a monthly fee to, which grants the reader unlimited access to any material the site has on file. With a payment like this each entity receives some cash flow. Although this may not be the most effective way for those individuals and/or publishing companies, it is some money coming back to them.
I do see this system helping me in my pursuit of a degree in Wildlife Management as well as in my chosen career field as a Wildlife Biologist. For example, over the summer of 2012, I worked for Nebraska Game and Parks Commission as a seasonal employee. During that summer there was an massive outbreak of EHD (Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease) in the states population of White-tailed Deer. Being my first experience with this virus, I did not know whether it could be transmitted to humans as well as any other domesticated animal. I tried to do some research on this virus, but was unsuccessful in finding the answers to all of my questions. If I had access to a scholarly source of information, I would have learned that humans were safe from the virus, however some breeds of beef cattle were susceptible to it.
With the way these types of information are held at this point, only students and professors at universities can access databases that can find and sort information on almost any topic. This is a huge disadvantage to individuals who are not part of the university system including alumni. The power of such knowledge should be available to anyone that seeks it, or at least is affordable for the average person.   

Aaron Swartz Precis

                Kevin Poulsen, in his article “Aaron Swartz,Coder and Activist, Dead at 26”(2013), suggests that Aaaron Swartz’s suicide was caused by the stress of a looming investigation on a hack he performed on the JSTOR subscription database. Poulsen develops his thesis through a brief backstory on Swartz including mentioning other charges he had faced in the past from his hacking and adding quotes from those close to Swartz to bring the situation into perspective. His purpose is to shed some light on what was happening in Swartz’s life in order to hopefully bring some closure to those involved in this tragedy. Poulsen seems to be writing to others that may have known Aaron or known of him due to his nastalgic tone throughout the article.