Passage - General Questions

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Passage Discussion

This passage deals with the problems presented by constant agriculture, heavy fertilization, and the
effort to restore floral balance to hundreds of thousands of acres in Europe, which are to be taken out
of production for the next few years. The author presents the results of a Netherlands-based study
dealing with efforts to accelerate the process of restoring the land’s floral diversity.

Paragraph One:

In response to agricultural overproduction, Europe will take hundreds of thousands of acres of
surplus farmland out of production. Restoring a natural balance of flora is challenging because of
soil depletion that results from constant agriculture, and because heavily fertilized land that is left
unplanted tends to promote problem weeds such as thistles and prevent native species from getting
established. The quickest method of restoration is to remove and replace the topsoil, but this could
not be done on a large enough scale to deal with the European issue. It is generally believed that
restoration naturally occurs gradually over time, a Netherlands study is researching the possibility of
accelerating the process.

Paragraph Two:

This paragraph continues the discussion of the Netherlands study, in greater detail. A cornfield was
cleared of cornstalks and weeds, and separated into 20 equal-sized plots. Some were replanted with
corn, some with nothing, some were sown with a mix of native herbs and grass, and others with the
same mix, but also adding in clover and toadflax. Three years later, the control plots were dominated
by thistles, while the plots with diverse seed varieties, and even those with less diverse varieties.

Paragraph Three:

Some of the plots in which native species were planted were also sprinkled with soil from land
that had been taken out of production 20 years earlier, to see whether beneficial microorganisms
might effect native plant repopulation. Seeds with such soil did better than those without, but not as
well as naturally growing plants on nearby land. Researchers concluded that fields that are farmed
for years are covered with aggressive disease organisms, but lack helpful microorganisms such as
mycorrhiza, fungi that live on plant roots and strengthen them against disease. This suggests that
restoration of natural plant diversity relies on restoring natural balance to the soil’s microorganisms,
and researchers now believe that diversity, both underground and aboveground, can be restored more
quickly when beneficial microorganisms are sown into the soil together with diverse selections of
native plant seeds.

VIEWSTAMP Analysis

The Viewpoints presented in this passage are those of the author, and of the researchers discussed in
the passage.

The Structure of the Passage is as follows:

Paragraph 1: Present the issue of restoring natural balance to land that had been in constant
agricultural use for many years. Present the specific issue of problem weeds’
prohibiting native species’ reestablishment, and introduce a study in the
Netherlands researching the possibility of accelerating the natural species’
reestablishment process.

Paragraph 2: Discuss the fact that diverse plant species of grass and herbs can effectively
force out such problem weeds as thistles, which tended to proliferate in plots
where nothing is planted.

Paragraph 3: Introduce the benefit of well balanced microorganisms in the soil which
appear to help the seeds establish themselves, and the idea that restoration of
balance both aboveground and underground can help to more quickly restore
natural plant diversity to overfarmed land.

The author’s Tone is academic, presenting an unbiased account of a particular study conducted in the
Netherlands.

The Main Point of the passage is that restoring diversity to overfarmed land relies on restoring a
natural balance in the soil’s microorganisms as well as a diverse variety of species of seeds planted.