Wildlife Management Assignment: Article Reviews and Summary

There is one assignment this term that focuses on management of wildlife populations.  It is worth 35% of your final mark.

You are to read 3 articles that relate to wildlife or wildlife management from refereed journals (see examples below). You will then write a review of the article that contains the following:

 

1. Your name and the date
2. Type of article (see below)
3. Correct citation for the article that you reviewed
4. Summary of the Introduction
5. Summary of the Methods
6. Description of the study area (location, habitat, etc)
7. Summary of the Results
8. Summary of the Discussion
9. A critique of the paper

 

The reviews will be no longer than 5 pages and must be typed and double-spaced in total your finished assignment should be about 12-15 pages (max 5 pages for each review). The format for the citation of the review and any references should follow an acceptable academic format (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.). For help with style see:

 

When you write your reviews, you should be incorporating course terminology in your writing and since you have spent several weeks reviewing management techniques, keep a critical (or complimentary) eye on the literature and offer your insights into what you are reading.

 

Good articles can be found in any of these journals (all available through WLU) - you are welcome to use others. You may find other ideas in the reference list(s) of the text book:

• Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 108th Congress
• The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: The Next Chapter
• Bulletin of the Wildlife Disease Association
• Canadian wildlife
• East African wildlife journal
• European journal of wildlife research
• Fishery bulletin
• Forest ecology and management
• Human dimensions of wildlife
• International wildlife
• Journal of international wildlife law and policy
• Journal of wildlife diseases
• Journal of Wildlife Management
• National wildlife (limit to one of your 3 as it is not a 'journal' per se)
• Wildlife biology
• Wildlife biology in practice
• Wildlife monographs
• Wildlife Society Bulletin

You can also search for journals by title by using the following URL: 

Choosing your articles is very important. Do not select articles simply because they are short (only select articles that are > 5 pages. Make sure all of your articles are fairly current (no articles older than 1995). Select articles with topics that are of interest to you personally and that will allow you to write a good review. If you have any questions regarding the acceptability of an article, ask me before you begin your review. Again, make sure that you add depth...don't just describe what happened in the study - look at what they did, why they did it and what you think of it (or what others think of it). Analysis and critical review and integration of course material will yield higher grades on this assignment.

 

When you finish your 3rd review, write a summary discussing the differences between the different types of journals you read. All journals are not alike. Some journals are relatively easy to publish in and others have a very low acceptance rate. The acceptance rate is often related to the perceived quality of a journal or at least the amount of prestige associated with a publication in that journal (This does not mean that local/regional journals are not important). Things to look for include the amount of data (sampling effort, length of study), quality of study, length of publication, uniqueness of study (has it been done before), quality of writing, quality of graphs and tables etc. You do not have to address all of these items and you may choose to discuss things not mentioned here.