PSAT Reading Practice Question 649

Question: 649

These passages are adapted from the articles written in 2013 about invasive plants.
passage 1
Today many of the most common and rec-
ognizable plants in our arboreal ecosystems
are nonnative to North America. If you take
a walk through the woods almost anywhere
05in the temperate U.S., you'll probably come
across clusters of honeysuckle, dandelions,
bobbing water lilies, and dense patches of
ivy. Despite their pervasiveness, none of
these plants developed here naturally, but
10were introduced by human activity.
Some nonnative plants are introduced to
new territories accidentally via interregional
soil and food trade. Accidental introduc-
tion of nonnative organisms can often have
15negative and unforeseen consequences. For
example, the Asian chestnut blight fungus
was unexpectedly brought to the United
States through the trade of plants; this fungus
nearly wiped out the entire American chest-
20nut population, harming many animals that
depend on chestnuts for food.
Many other species, however, have been
purposefully spread within the U.S. for a
wide range of beneficial uses: stock feed, ero-
25sion control, reforestation, and, most com-
monly of all, ornamental plants in gardens
and parks. Intentional cultivation of nonna-
tive invasive plants is generally far more ben-
eficial than accidental introduction, although
30there are exceptions. For example, melaleuca
trees were brought to the Florida Everglades
from Australia; developers thought these
trees would help dry up vast swampy areas,
enabling residential and commercial con-
35struction. Unfortunately, the trees spread
widely and covered up large swaths of the
Everglades, displacing native plants. Florida
has had to spend a great deal of money to
remove these invasive trees.
40Although introduced animal species often
become invasive in new ecosystems because
of a lack of natural predation, it is difficult
even for botanists to predict which exotic
plants will flourish in a novel environment.
45Some plants require continuous human
intervention and cannot spread indepen-
dently into the wild. Others—honeysuckle,
dandelions, water lilies, and ivy included—
languish in domestication for a number of
50years and then suddenly naturalize, at which
point they often become invasive.
passage 2
For the past fifty years, it has been the
conventional credence of ecologists and
biologists alike that invasive, nonnative plant
55species are, without exception, detrimental
to the host ecosystem. However, recent stud-
ies at Penn State University indicate that the
eradication of invasive plants—specifically
fruit-bearing shrubs—can do more harm
60than good for the native animal populations.
After conducting studies in urban, rural,
and forested environments, researchers
found that an area's abundance of honey-
suckle can function as a direct predictor
65of the number and diversity of birds living
within a particular region. Having developed
a mutualist relationship, native species of
birds throughout the Midwest rely on hon-
eysuckle fruit as a staple food source in the
70fall. Simultaneously, honeysuckle benefits by
being spread to new regions when its seeds
are eaten and subsequently dispersed by the
birds.
Though common protocol would dictate
75that an invasive species like honeysuckle
be removed from areas where it becomes
dominant, these new findings demonstrate
that such action would likely strike a signifi-
cant blow to native bird populations. What's
80more, areas that today are abundant in
honeysuckle typically host 30 to 40 percent
more birds than these same regions did 30
years ago, indicating a long-term change for
the better. Although some invasive species
85do cause tremendous and irreparable dam-
age to their ecosystems, environments are
not static. Environments change, develop,
and adapt to transitions, whether they be
natural or humanmade. We must learn to be
90more discriminating in our eradication of
invasive plants from those areas where they
have become an integral part of the greater
ecosystem.
The Galapagos Islands have been isolated from human habitation until relatively recently.
*http://www.galapagos.org/conservation/tourism-growth/

Passage 1 and Passage 2 agree that

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