Wetlands Reflection
The purpose of this assignment is for you to take a deeper look a wetland loss for a particular country. You will choose a country in West Africa to complete this assignment. West Africa includes: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
As for all assignments, make sure the work is completely your own; absolutely no copy-pasting, even if you alter some of the words as that is still considered plagiarism.
Step One: Current Status
First, navigate to the Global Wetlands mapper at https://www2.cifor.org/global-wetlands/Links to an external site. . When you click the link, you should arrive at an interactive map. Specify your country in the dropdown box. When you select your country, the map should zoom there and provide you with some statistics on its wetland areas and their types. Use the map and statistics to answer the following questions.
1. What country did you select?
2. Briefly describe the spatial distribution of wetlands in your selected country. Hint: You may describe in terms of: if they’re abundant/sparse, concentrated vs. dispersed; coastal vs. inland; with references to cardinal directions or to particular cities or other administrative regions.
3. What is the area of wetlands in the country? What percentage of the country is covered by wetlands? Hint: The area is provided in hectares. To get the percentage, divide the Total Wetlandsby the Total Area of the country (ha).
4. What are the most common types of wetlands in the country? Hint: they are shown in the pie chart.
Part Two: History of Wetland Loss
Second, do an internet search to discover the history of wetland loss for your country. Find information to answer the following questions. Cite your sources (weblinks are acceptable).
5. What percentage of your country’s original wetlands have been lost?
6. What were the main causes of wetland loss in the country?
7. How does this percentage of wetland loss compare to that of the United States?
Please input your answers into the textbox provided. The rubric below breaks down how the answers will be graded.
Rubric
| Criteria | Ratings | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome1 | 4 ptsFull markslists country; country is in designated region2 ptsHalfcountry is listed but not in correct region0 ptsNo marksmissing/incorrect/plagiarized | 4 pts |
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome2 | 6 ptsFull marksprovides three descriptors: (1) indicates whether wetlands are abundant, sparse, concentrated; (2) provides some information about where wetlands occur relative to cardinal directions (e.g. north) or whether they tend to be inland or coastal; and (3) provides some description relative to administrative boundaries (e.g. major cities, rivers).4 ptsStrongmissing one of 3 descriptors2 ptsWeakmissing 2 of 30 ptsNo marksmissing/incorrect/plagiarized | 6 pts |
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome3 | 4 ptsFull marksProvides hectares of wetlands in the country; Calculates and reports the percentage of wetlands2 ptsHalfMissing 1 of 2 answers0 ptsNo marksmissing/incorrect/plagiarized | 4 pts |
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome4 | 6 ptsFull marksaccurately lists most common types of wetlands for the country0 ptsNo marksmissing/incorrect/plagiarized | 6 pts |
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome5 | 6 ptsFull marksProvides percentage of wetlands lost, AND provides the reference to the statistic (web links are acceptable)3 ptsHalfMissing Reference0 ptsNo marksmissing/incorrect/plagiarized | 6 pts |
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome6 | 6 ptsFull marksProvides leading causes of wetland loss specific for that country; AND includes reference(s). weblinks are acceptable3 ptsHalfMissing reference0 ptsNo marksmissing/incorrect/plagiarized | 6 pts |
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome7 | 4 ptsFull marksProvides US percentage loss; makes a comparison to selected country3 ptsHalfMissing US percent0 ptsNo marksmissing/incorrect/plagiarized | 4 pts |
Requirements: depends on question
