Grassland songbirds often nest in the same grassland-wetland complexes

Question

Grassland songbirds often nest in the same grassland-wetland complexes as waterfowl, particularly in a certain part of those complexes, namely, upland habitats surrounding wetlands. Although some wildlife management procedures directed at waterfowl, such as habitat enhancement or restoration, may also benefit songbirds, the impact of others, especially the control of waterfowl predators, remains difficult to predict. For example, most predators of waterfowl nests prey opportunistically on songbird nests, and removing these predators could directly increase songbird nesting success. Alternatively, small mammals such as mice and ground squirrels are important in the diet of many waterfowl-nest predators and can themselves be important predators of songbird nest. Thus, removing waterfowl-nest predators could affect songbird nesting success through subsequent increases in small-mammal populations.

In 1995 and 1996, researchers trapped and removed certain waterfowl-nest predators, primarily raccoons and striped skunks, then observed subsequent survival rates for songbird nests. Surprisingly, they observed no significant effect on songbird nesting success. This may be due to several factors. Neither raccoons nor striped skunks consume ground squirrels, which are important predators of songbird nests. Thus, their removal may not have led to significant increases in populations of smaller predators. Additionally, both raccoons and striped skunks prefer wetlands and spend little time in upland habitats; removing these species may not have increased the nesting success of songbirds in the uplands enough to allow detection.   1 
 A 
1. According to the passage, which of the following is true about the role played by ground squirrels in the ecology of grassland-wetland complexes?

(A) While not important in the diet of raccoons or striped skunks, ground squirrels are a significant source of food for other waterfowl-nest predators. 
(B) Whereas ground squirrels are typically important as predators of songbird nests, their opportunistic predation on waterfowl nests also has an observable effect on waterfowl nesting success. 
(C) Although most waterfowl-nest predators prey on small mammals such as mice and ground squirrels, populations of ground squirrels tend to increase quickly enough to compensate for this level of predation. 
(D) Although ground squirrels have been known to prey on songbird nests, a larger portion of their diets is usually provided by predation on waterfowl nests. 
(E) Since larger predators tend to prefer small mammals to songbird eggs as a food source, a large population of ground squirrels plays an important role in controlling opportunistic predation on songbird nests.

2 
 C 
2. Which of the following best describes the function of the sentence “ Neither raccoons...songbird nests ” in the context of the passage as a whole?

(A) It raises questions about the validity of a theory described in the first paragraph. 
(B) It points out an oversimplification that is inherent in the argument presented in the first paragraph. 
(C) It introduces information that may help explain the results of the experiment that are presented earlier in the paragraph. 
(D) It provides a specific example of the type of data collected in the experiment described earlier in the paragraph. 
(E) It anticipates a potential objection to the conclusions drawn by the researchers involved in the experiment described earlier in the paragraph.

3 
 B 
3. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) describe some procedures used for wildlife management and consider some problems associated with the execution of those procedures
(B) outline a problem related to a wildlife management procedure and offer potential explanations for the results of an experiment bearing on that problem
(C) present experimental results that illustrate the need for certain wildlife management procedures and point out some inconsistencies in those results
(D) argue that a certain procedure used for wildlife management should be modified because of its unintended consequences
(E) propose that further experiments be performed to assess the long-term effects of certain wildlife management procedures

4 
 E 
4. The passage suggests that removing waterfowl-nest predators could possibly have a negative effect on songbird populations because

(A) songbird populations could then grow to unsustainable numbers
(B) small-mammal population could then move out of the uplands into wetland areas
(C) competition among remaining waterfowl-nest predators could decrease significantly
(D) a resulting increase in waterfowl populations could crowd out songbird populations
(E) a resulting increase in small-mammal populations could increase small-mammal predation on songbirds

5 
 B 
5. It can be inferred that the habitat preferences of raccoons and striped skunks affected the results of the experiment described in the passage for which of the following reasons?

(A) Songbird nests in the wetlands are usually located in places that most waterfowl-nest predators cannot reach.
(B) Raccoons and striped skunks are not usually found in areas where songbird nests tend to be located.
(C) Mice and ground squirrels tend to avoid predation by raccoons and striped skunks by remaining exclusively in the uplands.
(D) The populations of small mammals in the wetlands are usually controlled by larger waterfowl-nest predators such as raccoons and striped skunks.
(E) The waterfowl on which raccoons and striped skunks prey in the wetlands compete with songbirds for food.

BrightOutlookJenn · Accepted Answer

Hi  Will2020

You asked

So - full disclosure - I had to circle back on Question 1 as I initially eliminated all the answer choices. Here was my process:

Upon reading the question, but before reading any answer choices,  I said to myself, "what do I know about ground squirrels? I know they eat songbird eggs. And I know that the skunks and raccoons do NOT eat the squirrels." It's helpful in this type of question to  bring to mind what you've gleaned from the passage  that may help form the basis of your answer  BEFORE  you go get ambushed/confused by the GMAT word salad of the answer choices.

Initially I did not like A because I was not sure that I could prove the second half of the answer choice using the passage.

B was out because we aren't focused on  waterfowl  nesting success, we're focused on songbird nesting success. So the second half of B is out of scope and wrong.

C was out because of this phrase: " populations  of ground squirrels  tend to increase quickly  enough to compensate for this level of predation." What? There was no discussion about how fast ground squirrels reproduce/increase their populations.

D was out because I have no evidence about "a  larger portion  of their diets" ... I only know they eat songbird eggs, no idea about anything else they eat or the overall makeup of their diets

E was out because I didn't know anything about the  preferences  of larger predators. (Envision the larger predator looking at a menu ... hmm, I'll have the ground squirrel grilled, please.)

So then I needed to circle back to A and see if I was sure about my elimination there. I then went back into the passage to see if I could find anything about someone else eating the ground squirrels, and I found it in the second-to-last sentence of P1:  "Alternatively, small mammals such as mice and ground squirrels are important in the diet of many waterfowl-nest predators and can themselves be important predators of songbird nest." 
Aha. So that's what we needed, now we can justify both parts of answer choice A.

In retrospect,  the reason I had to circle back on A comes down to the summary I gave myself after I read the question but before I started on the answer choices. If we go back to what I said: 
 "what do I know about ground squirrels? I know they eat songbird eggs. And I know that the skunks and raccoons do NOT eat the squirrels." 
 
... this was a little bit incomplete. A fuller statement would have said that "some nest predators do eat the squirrels, but skunks and raccoons do NOT eat the squirrels." I had run past that sentence when reading and I didn't initially find it important.

Big picture:  A question like this one is testing your overall reading comprehension of the passage, and how well you retained the most important details and relationships. If you had to go hunting for evidence to disprove all 4 wrong answer choices, your grasp of the passage was not sufficiently strong and detailed. You should be able to eliminate at least 2 answer choices without re-reading anything, and then have a good idea of where in the passage you could look for evidence relating to the other 3.

Does this help? Let us know.

anairamitch1804 · Answer

1)"small mammals such as mice and ground squirrels are important in the diet of many waterfowl-nest predators and can themselves be important predators of songbird nests". "Neither raccoons nor striped skunks consume ground squirrels, which are important predators of songbird nests."
It means the ground squirrles are not eaten by racoons or skunks but they play a very important role in the diet of many waterfowl-nest predators.So, if you combine above two statements you can see that only option that matches is A.
"While not important in the diet of raccoons or striped skunks, ground squirrels are a significant source of food for other waterfowl-nest predators."
2)Researchers conducted some random experiment but it doesn't lead to a conclusion or their prediction which they were looking for and several factors are considered before this highlighted bold part and this flow of pattern exactly matches with option C.
"It introduces information that may help explain the results of the experiment that are presented earlier in the paragraph".
3)The author predicts the following chain of events 
removal of waterfowl predators ---> proliferation of small animals ---> negative impact on songbird nesting 
But the removal of the waterfowl predators doesn't have the predicted impact. Lines 34-37 help explain why the predicted impact didn't happen. There's no potential objection to a conclusion. In other words, no one is refuting an idea in the abstract. There's just an experiment with an unexpected result that requires an explanation. Hence B.
"outline a problem related to a wildlife management procedure and offer potential explanations for the results of an experiment bearing on that problem".

sandman13 · Answer

Took me 10:35 to solve all 5. Got all correct

Abbreviated the creatures as GS, WF, P (WF predators), and sq (squirrels). P' for predators in the study described in the second paragraph, since they are a subset of P and don't really eat sq. Notes looked like this: 1. effect of things done for WF may have mixed results -remove P, inc GS -P kill sq; remove P; sq kills GS 2. exp. and explanation: -removed P': GS - no change -reason given: P' don't eat sq. so doesn't matter (also P' live in diff area) I think that somewhat helps.

avinash2235 · Answer

5. It can be inferred that the habitat preferences of raccoons and striped skunks affected the results of the experiment described in the passage for which of the following reasons?

(A) Songbird nests in the wetlands are usually located in places that most waterfowl-nest predators cannot reach.
(B) Raccoons and striped skunks are not usually found in areas where songbird nests tend to be located.
(C) Mice and ground squirrels tend to avoid predation by raccoons and striped skunks by remaining exclusively in the uplands.
(D) The populations of small mammals in the wetlands are usually controlled by larger waterfowl-nest predators such as raccoons and striped skunks.
(E) The waterfowl on which raccoons and striped skunks prey in the wetlands compete with songbirds for food.

Can anyone explain the Option B?.
I didn't find any information related to option B in the entire passage.

sandman13 · Answer

Grassland songbirds often nest in the same grassland-wetland complexes as waterfowl, particularly in a certain part of those complexes, namely, upland habitats surrounding wetlands  . Although some wildlife management procedures directed at waterfowl, such as habitat enhancement or restoration, may also benefit songbirds, the impact of others, especially the control of waterfowl predators, remains difficult to predict. For example, most predators of waterfowl nests prey opportunistically on songbird nests, and removing these predators could directly increase songbird nesting success. Alternatively, small mammals such as mice and ground squirrels are important in the diet of many waterfowl-nest predators and can themselves be important predators of songbird nest. Thus, removing waterfowl-nest predators could affect songbird nesting success through subsequent increases in small-mammal populations.

In 1995 and 1996, researchers trapped and removed certain waterfowl nest predators, primary raccoons and striped skunks, then observed subsequent survival rates for songbird nests. Surprisingly. They observed no significant effect on songbird nesting success. This may be due to several factors. Neither raccoons nor striped skunks consume ground squirrels, which are important predators of songbird nests. Thus, their removal may not have led to significant increases in populations of smaller predators. Additionally,   both raccoons and striped skunks prefer wetlands and spend little time in upland habitats  ; removing these species may not have increased the nesting success of songbirds in the uplands enough to allow detection.

avinash2235  I've italicized the relevant portion for you. Hope it helps.

Will2020 · Answer

DmitryFarber BrightOutlookJenn GMATNinja Can you please comment on Question 1? I took a long time on the question and still got it wrong. How would you approach this question? Tks!

GAngstA · Answer

hii experts,
despite knowing how to solve rc why i am stuck with rc?
plz provide some guidance ....

BrightOutlookJenn · Answer

Hi  GAngstA ,

It's not unusual to feel stuck when trying to improve RC. Feel free to tag me or other experts on passages where you made errors, and talk us through your reasoning for your answer choices. Then we can try to help you identify what went wrong, hopefully help you see if that is a symptom of a larger problem, and give tips on how to address the larger problem.

Thanks!
Jennifer

pratishtha1210 · Answer

hi experts,

I am confused between A and B for primary purpose 
3. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) describe some procedures used for wildlife management and consider some problems associated with the execution of those procedures
I picked A because execution of procedure can be described as experiments

(B) outline a problem related to a wildlife management procedure and offer potential explanations for the results of an experiment bearing on that problem
I rejected B because it says a wildlife management procedure but there is this line in passage "Although some wildlife management procedures directed at waterfowl, such as habitat enhancement or restoration, may also benefit songbirds, the impact of others, especially the control of waterfowl predators, remains difficult to predict" so it is talking about procedures and some examples of that are being discussed further

Can you please shed some light on where i am going wrong

MartyTargetTestPrep 
 ParamjitDasGMAT   BrightOutlookJenn   ExpertsGlobal5 
 KarishmaB 
 EducationAisle

EducationAisle · Answer

Indeed tricky Pratishtha. However, notice that the text you have highlighted mentions "especially the control of waterfowl predators". Subsequently, the second para is dedicated to  this specific  wildlife management procedure (control of waterfowl predators).

LXIII63 · Answer

Hello  GMATNinja , @GMATNinjaTwo; could you please elaborate on your thought process in elimination for questions 1, 2 and 3.
Thank you!

GMATNinja · Answer

Questions 1, 2, & 3 
 
 Question 1 
 
Ground squirrels are mentioned twice in the passage. In the first paragraph, we learn that "ground squirrels are important in the diet of many waterfowl-nest predators and can themselves be important predators of songbird nest." In the second paragraph, we learn that "neither raccoons nor striped skunks consume ground squirrels, which are important predators of songbird nests."

So we know that many waterfowl-nest predators, but NOT raccoons or stripe skunks, eat ground squirrels. Additionally, ground squirrels eat songbird nests.

This is exactly what we've discussed above, so (A) is looking good.

We have no idea whether ground squirrels opportunistically prey on waterfowl nests. (B) is out.

We don't know how quickly ground squirrel populations increase. Eliminate (C).

Again, we have no idea whether ground squirrels prey on waterfowl nests. Eliminate (D).

We know that larger predators "prey opportunistically on songbird nests," and also that "small mammals such as mice and ground squirrels are important in the diet of many waterfowl-nest predators."

But which source of food do these predators tend to  prefer ? Songbird nests could be the tastiest option, but maybe it's more effort to find them, or there are just fewer around, etc.

Because we don't know what larger predators prefer, we can eliminate (E).

(A) is the correct answer to question 2.

Question 2 
 
Before this particular sentence, the author says that the "surprising" results of the experiment "may be due to several factors." So when the author goes on to say that "neither raccoons nor striped skunks consume ground squirrels, which are important predators of songbird nests," he/she is listed one of the factors that may explain the results of the experiment.

This fits really nicely with (C), which is the correct answer to question 2.

Question 3 
To answer primary purpose questions, first ask why the author wrote each paragraph:

Paragraph 1: the author  claims that a certain practice has an impact on songbirds that is "difficult to predict."  Sometimes removing waterfowl predators helps songbirds, while sometimes it hurts songbirds. 
 Paragraph 2: the author  discusses a research project exploring the impact of the practice on songbirds.  "Surprisingly," the experiment didn't affect songbirds that much.

So, why did the author write the passage?
 
There are a couple of issues with (A). First, the author really only "describes"  one  procedure (removing waterfowl predators), not "some" procedures. Second, (A) really only captures the intent of the first paragraph, and leaves out the second paragraph entirely.

Eliminate (A).
 
This one looks good! The author discusses how attempting to control waterfowl predators can create issues for songbirds. In the second paragraph, he/she explains why that practice didn't create these issues in a particular experiment.

Keep (B).
 
The experimental results in paragraph 2 didn't "illustrate the need for certain wildlife management procedures." The author was only interested in the fact that the experiment didn't impact songbirds. Additionally, the results of the experiment weren't "inconsistent."

(C) is out.
 
The author never advocates for a modified version of the procedure. He/she merely explains a potential problem and an experiment exploring that problem.

Eliminate (D).
 
Nope, the author never proposes that further experiments be performed.

(E) is out, and (B) is the winner for question 3.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Grassland songbirds often nest in the same grassland-wetland complexes

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Grassland songbirds often nest in the same grassland-wetland complexes

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