Tag: zoology

Biomagnification, also known as bio-amplification or biological magnification, is the increasing concentration of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in the tissues of tolerant organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain. The substances become increasingly concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the chain. Bioaccumulants are substances that increase in concentration in living organisms as they take in contaminated air, water, or food because the substances are very slowly metabolized or excreted.

 It is seen that the level of toxicant increases as the food chain progresses. It means, the primary consumers will have more toxicant concentration than the producers, the secondary consumers will have more than primary consumers and so on. The highest concentrations will be seen in the top carnivore. This is because the consumers at the successive trophic level consume more than the previous level to fulfil the energy requirements. Due to this, toxicant keeps on accumulating in the successive trophic levels in higher concentrations. This process is called the biomagnification. So, planktons will have least and birds will have the most toxicant presence.

The toxic substances which cannot be metabolized get accumulated at a particular trophic level. This leads to increase in the concentration of the toxicant at successive trophic levels. This phenomenon is called as biological magnification and well-known for mercury and DDT. Higher the trophic level of an organism in the food chain greater will be the magnification of toxic chemicals.

Biological magnification is the process of increasing concentration of the toxic substances in the living organism as they go up the food chain.

Biomagnification is the process where the concentration of toxic compounds increases in the body of the organisms through the food chain. The organisms at the higher trophic level will have more concentration of the compounds. Here, fishes are at the highest trophic level, so they will accumulate maximum amount of pesticides. So, the correct answer is 'Fishes'.

Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification or biological magnification, is the increasing concentration of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in the tissues of tolerant organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain. Biomagnification process occurs when certain toxic chemicals and pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) compounds go up the food chain by working their way through the environment and into the soil or the water systems after which they are eaten by aquatic animals or plants. Biomagnification occurs in the higher trophic levels of the food chain/web , where exposure to chemicals takes place mostly through food consumption rather than water uptake. Spraying a marsh to control mosquitoes will cause trace amounts of DDT to accumulate in the cells of microscopic aquatic organisms causing accumulation which cannot be metabolized.

Biomagnification refers to increase in concentration of the toxicant at successive trophic levels. This happens because a toxic substance accumulated by an organism cannot be metabolised or excreted, and is thus passed on to the next higher trophic level. 

A few toxic substances, often present in industrial wastewaters, can undergo biological magnification in the aquatic food chain. Biomagnification refers to increase in the concentration of the toxicant at successive trophic levels. This happens because a toxic substance accumulated by an organism cannot be metabolised or excreted, and is thus passed on to the next higher trophic level. This phenomenon is well known for mercury and DDT. The concentration of DDT is increased  at successive trophic levels. For example, if it starts at 0.003 ppb (ppb = parts per billion) in water, it can ultimately reach 25 ppm (ppm = parts per million) in fish-eating birds, through biomagnification.