Geese can often be seen grazing in coastal salt marshes. Unfortunately, their intense grazing removes the grassy covering, exposing marsh sediment; this increases evaporation, which in turn increases salt concentration in marsh sediments. Because of this increased concentration, regrowth of plants is minimal, leading to increased erosion, which leads to a decrease in the fertile topsoil, leading to even less regrowth. In time, the salt marsh becomes a mudflat. This process challenges one of the most widely held beliefs about the dynamics of salt-marsh ecosystems: supposedly, consumers such as geese do not play a large role in controlling the productivity of marsh systems. Rather, the standard view claims, marshes are controlled by bottom-up factors, such as nutrients and physical factors.

The author discusses "the standard view" (line 14) most likely in order to identify a view that

A. explains the occurrence of the chain of events described in the passage
B. provides a summary of the chain of events described in the passage
C. is called into question by the chain of events described in the passage
D. advocates reassessment of the widely held belief described in the passage
E. is undermined by the widely held belief described in the passage



According to the passage, which of the following is a widely held belief about geese?

A. They are not often seen grazing in coastal salt marshes.
B. They are not the primary consumers in salt-marsh ecosystems.
C. They play only a minor role in the productivity of salt-marsh ecosystems.
D. They are the primary determinants of which resources will thrive in coastal salt marshes.
E. They control the productivity of salt-marsh ecosystems through a bottom-up process.