What does biological magnification describe?

Answer 1

Biological Magnification, also called bioaccumulation -- is the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy metals move up the food chain.

These substances work their way into rivers or lakes, and are eaten by aquatic organisms such as fish, which in turn are eaten by large birds, animals or humans. The substances, called bioaccumulants, become concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the chain.

It occurs when compounds are poorly excreted by an organism thereby leading to a buildup of said compound as the organism consumes more and more organisms/substances containing the compound.

Answer 2

The increase in concentration of a substance up the food chain.

Basic idea:

If each small fish contains 0.01g of lead, and a larger fish eats 100 small fish, it will then contain 1g of lead

Answer 3

bioaccumulation is the accumulation of compounds in animal or plant tissue over time that cant be excreted from the organism.

for example once Lead or DDT is ingested by an organism it stays in the food chain. once an infected organism is eaten, the creature that eats it also absorbs that compound, so that the higher you get in the food chain the greater the levels of the compound.

an example is sharks who have high levels of lead in their bodies due to eating smaller fish which have been contaminated by lead, hence the recommendation not to eat too much flake.

Answer 4

Bioaccumulation is the growth of a toxins levels in the many tissues of an organism.

Biomagnifcation is the procees during which a chemical or toxin makes its way through all levels of the food chain. This happens starting with a small organism consuming the toxin and works its way up when larger organisms consume those on the level below them.

Answer 5

When the effects of any sort of chemical are intensified due to increment in the food chain tier, this is called biological magnification.

It is caused due to the fact that when we move upwards to a higher tier in the food chain, the tier organisms has to eat multiple creatures of the lower tier to get the same energy. This means that foriegn chemical concentration is boosted on each tier.

eg : 100 PLANKTON >eaten by> 10 FISH >eaten by> 1 EAGLE

Imagine, each plankton has 2 units of chemicals. Total amount = 100 x 2 = 200 units of chemicals.

In the fish tier, 200 chemicals are inside 10 fish. Each fish has 200/10 = 20 chemicals.

In eagle tier, the lone eagle has all 200 chemicals.

This concentrating effect is called biological magnification.

Answer 6

Occurs when compounds are poorly excreted by an organism thereby leading to a buildup of said compound as the organism consumes more and more organisms/substances containing the compound.

Answer 7

the world is a big place