What is biomagnification?
1 Answer
Jan 17, 2017
Biomagnification describes the accumulation of a substance in higher trophic levels.
Explanation:
Biomagnification describes the accumulation of a substance in higher trophic levels. Higher level consumers have higher amounts of the substance than lower level consumers.
A substances accumulates in an organism's tissues (bioaccumulation). A second organism consumes the first organism along with equally contaminated relatives of the first organism. The second organism has higher levels of the substance than the original consumers did.
The image below shows the biomagnification of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in an aquatic food chain in Washington state. PCBs are a man-made organic pollutant.
