Editing Encyclopedia:WikiProject Ecoregions (section)

==Open tasks==
We now have articles for all of the WWF terrestrial ecoregions – about 865 depending on definitions.  A good base to work on!  Here are some important next steps:

===Upgrade stubs===
There are currently 41 stubs (August 2021).  To see which ones they are, go to the Project's full checklist: [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Ecoregions/Terrestrial Ecoregion Checklist|A checklist of Terrestrial Ecoregions on EN-Wikipedia]] .  Click twice on the "Status" column header to bring the stubs to the top.  You can use the suggested references in the right hand column to get information for the articles.

===Create ecoregion-specific subsections in "redirect" articles===
About 90 of the ecoregions have boundaries similar to well-known geographic areas. For example, the 'Aleutian Islands tundra' ecoregion covers the same islands as the [[Aleutian Islands]] article.  So the ecoregion link is a Redirect to the main article.  Two things need to be checked on these ecoregions: (a) Do the ecoregion and main article subject really refer to the same area?  If not, a separate ecoregion article may be warranted.  (b) Is there an 'ecoregion' subsection in the main article?  If not, one should be added, so that basic information about the ecoregion can be noted: realm, biome, WWF ID#, area in km2, whether it is a Global200 ecoregion, a couple of sentences describing how the flora/fauna differ from bordering ecoregions, a characterization of the conservation status, and of course the reference links.

===Note: Other checklists of ecoregions===
*[[List of ecoregions (WWF)]]: terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecoregions for the entire world. These should be our top priority, since they are global in scope.
* [[Lists of ecoregions by country]]. You can see which countries have missing or incomplete ecoregion articles and create or expand them, or create a missing country list.
* [[List of ecoregions in North America (CEC)]]
* [[List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA)]]

===Fill in basic data in WikiData items===
For the WikiData page for each ecoregion, there should be complete coverage of some minimal data points: Ecoregion name, realm, biome, countr(ies), WWF ID code, map, image, climate (Koppen), coordinates (middle of the largest section).

===Create high-quality example articles===
Currently there are no Feature articles among the ecoregions.  If anyone wishes to identify a candidate for upgrading to Feature status, it would be a great help to the project.  We can get a group of people helping.  Similarly, it would be good to upgrade each of the biome articles to "B" status, as they are the base for a lot of common information.

===Upgrade the flora and fauna sections===
There is no real standard, but readers probably want to know about:
* What species are characteristic of the area
* What species are notable for the area
* What species are of conservation interest (threatened, endangered, vulnerable, endemic)
* Address plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish
* Describe the character of the habitats (types of forest, desert, etc.)  

===Article cleanup===
As always:
* Copy edit
* Clear any cleanup tags
* Add "main" templates as appropriate
* Write articles for important redlinks

===Add links to other articles that point to the ecoregion article===
When an article for a country, protected area, mountain range, water body, etc. needs general information on its environment and ecology, link to the appropriate ecoregion(s). Similarly, articles for plants, animals, etc. should also refer to ecoregions when describing their range.

===Create missing ecoregion maps===
As of January 2021, there are about 65 missing maps.  One way to identify source data for maps is to look at the source information on the WikiCommons page for a nearby ecoregion map.  Some other sources:
* An interactive map is at '[https://ecoregions2017.appspot.com/ Resolve]'
* Images can be found at [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/BlueMarble/ NASA's Blue Marble earth imagery]
* Databasin's [https://databasin.org/datasets/68635d7c77f1475f9b6c1d1dbe0a4c4c Terrestrial ecoregions of the world] has both the map and a dataset for terrestrial ecoregions.

===Create missing articles for marine and freshwater ecoregions===
We'll set up a separate checklist for these.