Syeda- Journal Article Worksheet

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419305554#tbl

I think it was a little intimidating for me especially because it was on the longer side of a scientific journal article. Also, I don’t have much experience reading and analyzing science journal articles. However, this article had distinctive titles and main points laid out before reading the article. I found it helpful to search keywords and look at the figures which were helpful in visualizing the data they found, even qualitative ones.

This process was very interesting as I did not expect to gain a fairly comprehensive testing method for an experiment relating to birds. The paper had quite a detailed explanation of how data was to be collected. It was interesting to see an overview of the facility as a figure, as I’ve previously only seen direct figures of a particular testing apparatus that was used in other papers. On that note, I found it quite humorous that the picture of the facility used was included, as while it is important to ensure replicability of the experiment by others, this was an interesting decision for sure. Nonetheless, the testing methods helped me understand the data presented later on, and I found it effective to read the paper in chronological order, as certain jargon was clarified within the text.

My group was assigned to research and analyze aquatic scientific inquires and journals. After reading and surveying our scientific journal entry regarding the: “Conservation Status Of The Oyster Reef Ecosystem Of Southern & Eastern Australia”, I fully understood the structure of a scientific paper. It was extremely intimidating (being that it was a pretty lengthy paper, 16 pages to be exact), however, the abstract and format really helped to obtain the information one may be trying to acquire at a glance. Having the ability to read these journals or articles on electronic platforms further simplifies the process of finding the information needed to formulate your own conclusion. I was able to look back and search for the keywords throughout the article in order to fill out my worksheet.

Work Sheet: Journal Article Worksheet 2021.pdf

Article Link: Conservation status of the Oyster Reef Ecosystem of Southern and Eastern Australia – ScienceDirect

This was definitely intimidating, sitting at my computer with a journal article and an empty worksheet. I was not sure where to start, so I followed the examples given, and started with the abstract. Immediately I relaxed. The Abstract, at a hight level, contains pretty much the format for what else follows. You understand why the paper was conceived, how they went about observing for their data and what they found. With these guides, it helped me to scan the rest of the paper, to look for the sections that detailed each of the main points of the why, how and what from the abstract. I had an issue with the ‘figures’ part of the template. I believe that this is where one posts data from the study and other supporting images, but I could not work out for the life of me how to get this information into the worksheet in a format that was readable. Hopefully someone can comment with tips and I can make amendments with the relevant data.

Copy of completed worksheet:- Journal Article Worksheet

Link to Journal article:-  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419305554

This webinar was presented by Jessica Ware, Megan Wilson, and Adrienne Brundage.  The presenters shed light on the various facets surrounding insects.

One of the key things highlighted by the presenters was how to conduct iNaturalist observations with regard to insects.  this included best practices of how one should capture an insect for observation.

The presenters covered termites and Hemiptera, for instance. Hemiptera is known to leave certain visual indicators, such as markings on leaves. They also emit sounds that permit their discovery.  Upon discovery, they can be caught with tools like an aerial net.  Termites are creatures of which I did not initially think had a complex social structure.  I learned that they had social class distinctions that define an individual’s role.

Perhaps the greatest takeaway I had was about the spotted lanternfly. The spotted lanternfly was something I became more aware of in news coverage since, as I understood its potential harm on the local native species.

The webinar I attended was “Float Like a Butterfly, Grow Like a Weed, Swim Like a Fish”. The presenters were Kelly O’Donnell, Ansel Oommen, Peter Park. Ansel focused on the Lepidoptera which includes butterflies, skippers, and moths. He goes into detail about their cycle of metamorphosis, from egg to butterfly. They each have their own unique characteristics from color, active periods, and body shapes. He gives insight on how to spot caterpillars at each step of their growth cycle. Especially by noting their feeding patterns on leaves. 

Kelly presented on plants, but she is also a director for BioBlitz at Macaulay. She talked about mosses, ferns, conifers, and flowering plants. NYBG estimated that 2,029 spontaneous vascular plants. So there are a lot of plants in NYC, but it varies depending on where you live because we have different habitats here. She notes how different plants have distinctive lead patterns like poison ivy. 

Peter focuses on finding and documenting the fish in New York City, pulling from his experience becoming a marine biologist despite not living near a body of water. Freshwater fish have evolved from marine fish, and compose of some basic anatomy like multiple fins, jaw, and scales. They can be identified by these features, but it can often be hard to get a picture of them since they can not breathe air for too long. Sometimes fish can even be identified just by the way they swim. He is doing research on all the fish that live in the east river. 

All three presenters were very helpful in giving us key identifiers for our iNaturalist observations and also providing useful information about the evolution of leps, plants, and fish. Overall, I started to gain an appreciation for the large biodiversity that is in NYC and how we live in truly a great place to make science observations of all kinds.

I attended the “Birds and the Bees” webinar as per the 2021 Macaulay BioBlitz. I found the experience quite enlightening. I appreciated the chance to meet, hear, and chat with some of the seasoned specialist about their fields. (I.e., Gutman Surya, an ecologist  at the Wildlife Conservation Society with his observations on avian creatures and mammals’ behaviors and biodiversity). His in-depth explanation of indigenous birds (both on Staten Island and around the world) and their patterns helped me take a closer look at our winged counterparts and their tendencies. I also thoroughly enjoyed listening to Sarah Kornbluth, a bee specialist who works with Rutgers University and the Museum of Natural History. She spoke passionately about her studies and work within the community, and how imperative bees are to our eco system. It really brings light to how fragile the balance is. I never considered bird watching or bee keeping being more than just hobbies, but upon further inspection, I understand that it is crucial to aid us in comprehensively keeping the balance of the world around us.

Listening to prior observations and being encouraged to make some of my own will most likely be the better part of my gained insight. The data collected from these specialist and aspiring spectators will be extremely imperative to our relationship with Earth. Take observing the behavior of bees for instance, if we thought they were another pest created to annoy us during our annual family picknick, you’d “bee” incorrect. They are one of the main contributors in our food production process, and are the primary source of cultivating honey, or liquid gold, a very precious good that can be used to ward off illnesses and create other remedies (it is also very good in tea). These fuzzy little specimens are earths mobile agriculturalist, preventing soil erosion and pollinating over 80% of the world’s crops. All of these creatures have a lot to say and do with the world around us, all we have to do is look up and observe (-and try our hardest not to disturb the natural process).

On August 31^st, 2021, I attended a BioBlitz seminar on lichens in New York City entitled, “The Shield and the Flame.”  It was presented by Dr Kelly O’Donnell, plant evolutionary ecologist and Director of Science Forward at Macaulay Honors College. Dr O’Donnell spoke to the mechanics of the BioBlitz event, specifically tips for making useful observations. She was followed by Dr James Lendemer, lichenologist and Associate Curator, Institute of Systematic Botany, at the New York Botanical Garden, who spoke about the make-up of lichens, a brief history of them and what they can tell us about our world.

Good field observations include useful photographs with clear descriptions. O’Donnell showed us various BioBlitz observations she had made on the iNaturalist app and used these to highlight points that make observations useful. These included clear photographs that are focused on the object being observed. A photo of the whole subject as the main photo is useful to give a sense of the overall structures, and then any detail photographs showing specific parts of the object that might help in differentiating similar looking items. At least one of the photographs should have an object to be used to give and idea of scale, something like a ruler or an object with familiar dimensions, like a MetroCard.

Lichens are a type of fungi that usually form a symbiotic relationship with alga. Whilst lichens can grow directly on surfaces like trees or rocks, they usually form symbiotic relationships with algae to obtain their nutritional needs. We saw a slide showing a cross section of lichen where we could see distinct layers of a lichen, where there was a clear fungi layer and additional layers where the fungi was mixed with an alga.

In the New York City area, lichens died off, almost to extinction, but are slowly coming back. Due to the way lichens feed, they are very susceptible to changes in environmental conditions. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, most of the lichens native to the area have died off. Recently, as the environment has been getting better in and around New York City, we have seen a return of lichens to the area. However, the type of lichens that are coming back are just very hardy lichens that can handle life in the city and are vastly different in both number and variety than the lichens that grew here natively centuries ago.

The nature of lichens makes them good bellwethers for the state of the environment. As lichens tend to die off as pollution levels rise, so BioBlitz observations can be very beneficial when researching lichens. Using BioBlitz observations, researchers could make determinations about the general direction of environmental distress. If BioBlitz data shows a return of lichens that had previously died off, then this could serve to indicate a cleaning up of the environmental conditions.