Critiquing Research Papers 

These written assignments are designed to help you learn about landscape ecology concepts and research approaches, to read published literature more critically, and to synthesize current literature. In the process, we hope that you will develop critical thinking skills, as well as improve your ability to write clearly and concisely. We encourage you to discuss the papers and your ideas with others in the class to sharpen and clarify your thinking. However, each of you must submit your own work.

FORMAT:
Each of your critiques should be typed and double-spaced in 12-point or larger font. Each of your critiques should be between 800 and 2000 words in length, not counting tables, figures or the literature cited section. You can use your word processor to count the words. Include a complete citation to the paper your are critiquing at the top of the page, and cite literature and specific examples in the text to support and lend credibility to your critique. Follow the format used by Ecological Applications or Landscape Ecology for citing sources within the body of the text, for the Literature Cited section, and for all tables and figures. 

CONTENT:
The critique SHOULD NOT be a summary of the paper. You must address the following questions in your critique: 
        1. What is the significance of this work and the questions addressed in it?
        2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research approach?
        3. How well are the interpretations and conclusions made by the author(s) supported by the data presented? Are there alternative explanations? 
        4. How far can the results be extrapolated? In other words, does the design of the research and/or supporting studies allow its applicability to a wide range of ecosystems, geographic areas and times? Why or why not?
        5. How do the conclusions drawn by the author(s) of this paper compare and contrast with what others have found?
        6. What questions do you have that you now wish to explore further? For instance, how is this relevant to management applications and/or research questions?

You need not be constrained to these questions, nor do you need to address them in separate paragraphs. Cite papers from refereed journals to strengthen, and to support and add credibility to your critique. Be sure to cite them properly. 

If you are unfamiliar with writing a critique, you might look at some of the critical reviews and responses often published in Conservation Biology (e.g. R. Noss. 1987. Conservation Biology 1:159-164). Also look at the examples that students have written for this class in the past. 

The web site on finding and using journal articles and writing scientific papers might be very useful to you. This was written for students by Chad Hoffman, an Instructor in the Dept. of Forest Resources, using grant funding from the USDA/USDI Joint Fire Science Program.
 

GRADING
The rubric below will be used to grade your paper. Part of the grade will be based upon the organization, clarity of reasoning, grammar, and spelling of your essay. Carefully proof your paper. Have someone else edit it. The remainder of the grade will be based upon content. You must address the six questions above.
 

Hessburg, P.F., Smith, B.G., Salter, R.B., Ottmar, R.D., and Alvarado, E. 2000. Recent changes (1930s-1990s) in spatial patterns of interior northwest forests, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 136:53-83.

Bucini, G. and Lambin, E.F.  2002.  Fire impacts on vegetation in Central Africa: a remote-sensing-based statistical analysis.  Applied Geography  22(1): 27-48.
 

Schoennagel, T., M.G. Turner, D. M. Kashian, and A. Fall. 2006. Influence of fire regimes on lodgepole pine stand age and density across the Yellowstone National Park (USA) landscape. Landscape Ecology 21: 1281-1296.

Scheller, R.M., D.J. Mladenoff, T.R. Crow, and T.A. Sickley. 2005. Simulating the effects of fire reintroduction versus continued fire absence on forest composition and landscape structure in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Northern Minnesota, USA. Ecosystems. 8(4): 396-411

Hemstrom, M.A., M.J. Wisdom, W.J. Hann, M.M. Rowland, B.C. Wales, and R.A. Gravenmier. 2002. Sagebrush-steppe vegetation dynamics and restoration potential in the Interior Columbia Basin, U.S.A. Conservation Biology 16(5): 1243-1255.

Fuhlendorf, S.D., A.J. Woodward, D.M. Leslie and J.S. Shackford. 2002. Multi-scale effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on lesser prairie-chicken populations of the US Southern Great Plains. Landscape Ecology 17(7): 617-628.

Collinge, S.K., K. L. Prudic, and J. C. Oliver. 2003. Effects of local habitat characteristics and landscape context  on grassland butterfly diversity. Conservation Biology 17(1): 178-187.

Krauss, J., I. Steffan-Dewenter, and T. Tscharntke. 2003. How does landscape context contribute to the effects of habitat fragmentation on diversity and population density of butterflies. J. Biogeography. 30: 889-900. 

Brown, D.G., K.M. Johnson, T.R. Loveland, and D.M. Theobald. 2005. Rural land-use trends in the conterminous United States, 1950-2000. Ecological Applications 15(6): 1851-1863.