Prepare a Freshwater Ecosystems Report
ABSTRACT - (150-200 words)
Opening statement on what the work is about and where the work was conducted. State (briefly) what was measured and informally state the hypothesis (or question). Summarise key parts of the results and the conclusions. (The Abstract is one of the most challenging parts to write because you need to be very concise to fit within the word limit - most people do this last).
INTRODUCTION
The introduction summarises what we know, what we don't know, and why we even care about it. This should naturally lead you to your overall aim and hypothesis (or research question) for this study.Obviously the River Continuum Concept is generally important here.
The first paragraph broadly introduces the topic (with references). The second/third paragraphs delve deeper into a more specific part of the topic. Each paragraph should be logically linked to the next. This is where you might talk about changes in geomorphology, physical properties, climatic factors, etc. as we move down a river system and how aquatic communities change in response to these physical factors.
The last paragraph should link the information in your introduction to a statement of your aims, hypothesis and/or research question. Keep the introduction to a maximum of 400 words, but remember that citations (in text references) are NOT included in the word count. Aim for about 5-10 references.
DISCUSSION (500 words max.)
Now for the fun part! You get to explain the data, how it fits (or does not fit) your original hypothesis / question. You should be comparing your results with the existing literature on the topic, some of which will tie in with things discussed in the introduction and some which will be entirely new. In the discussion section you can show us how much you understand and provide deeper insights. You can tell your reader what you think the limitations of this study were and what needs to be done next. HOWEVER - beware the temptation to write a whole discussions worth of limitations. Also, statements like ‘sample sizes should have been larger' are useless. Why should they have been larger? Where is your reference that says sample sizes need to be X size to be effective? Back up your claims.
Aim for about 5-10 references.
Attachment:- Report template.zip