What would be some of the properties of molecules that could be candidates for biological magnification?

Answer 1

Such as Mercury accumulation in humans who eat large amounts of fish. During the 1950's, many people who consumed seafood from Minamata Bay in Japan, has neurological damage and abnormal celle effects.

Also, DDT is a prime example. It affected Gerbes (a water bird), who ingested fish contianing the toxins after they ate midges.

Answer 2

An example of biological magnification can be seen when pesticides work their way into the streams and lakes. These toxic chemicals are ingested by fish and other aquatic organisms. When the fish and aquatic organisms are eaten by birds, humans, and other animals they are working their way through the food chain and can have hazardous effects.

Answer 3

Most people confuse Bio magnification and bio accumulation. It is often helpful to know both of these terms so that you can easily make the distinction.

First bio magnification is a toxic burden of a large number of organisms at A LOWER trophic level. This is special because it is the organisms low on the food chain that take up and store a small amount of toxins from the environment. Bio magnification inverses the biological pyramid and violates the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

The 2nd law of thermodynamics states that the animals lowest on the trophic level, we'll say tiny microorganisms (bugs) would take up and store the most toxic burden and as they were eaten by larger animals there would be less toxin and when and even larger animal ate our first large animal that ate the bugs, there would be even less toxins.

This is not the case with bio magnification, bio magnification stores 0.003 ppb (parts per billion) of toxin in tiny microorganisms, when a small animal comes along and eats the microorganism, the small animal now has 0.04 ppb, when a medium size animal comes along and eats our small animal, our medium size animal now has 0.5 ppb and the toxin keeps on increasing until it reaches dangerous and often deadly levels on the animals at the top of the food chain.

So, unlike the 2nd law of thermodynamics that states that for each animal that comes along and eats another one, there is less and less energy available as they climb the trophic level and that the top carnivores have the least amount of energy, bio magnification is the inverse (upside down) of that concept because it is telling us that animals low on the food chain take up and store the toxin and as they are eaten by larger animals, the toxin increases in the animal that ate the low toxin one instead of the toxin decreasing.

Bio accumulation is basically just a fancy word for how toxins are taken up by small microorganisms in a very tiny amount .003 part/per/billion, but as they are consumed, the consumer of the microorganism now has 0.04 parts/per/billion (much larger amount) as our 2nd consumer eats the first consumer that ate the microorganism the 2nd consumer now has 0.5 parts/per/billion of the toxin and it keeps on climbing.

So an example of bio magnification is if a large animal (or myself) ate organisms on a lower trophic level that were storing toxins, that toxin is now concentrated by the large animal or myself at a higher trophic level and in much higher parts/per/billion in the inverse biological pyramid.

I hope I gave you enough information for you to be able to distinguish between the two terms that are very closely related.

An easy way to remember is if you want to have the most energy you eat primary producers at the lowest trophic level where energy levels are at their highest. If you want to eat non toxic food, you also eat at the lowest trophic level because they haven't accumulated massive amounts of toxins like the animals that eat them. So in both cases you are eating low on the trophic level, but for very different reasons. I hope I gave you the information needed for you to understand why the reasons are different.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Thank you

Kathy

Answer 4

They bind with lipids and they are not easily biodegraded. That is what lets a typical organic molecule (e.g. pesticides like DDT) to be absorbed and to remain in the lower trophic level organisms and to be concentrated up the trophic levels.

Answer 5

biological magnification is when biological matter is magnified.