Biomagnification refers to an increase in the number content quantity of

Q. Biomagnification refers to an increase in the number content quantity of

1. blue-green algae
2. insects
3. weeds
4. toxicants

Answer: Toxicants

Biomagnification

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 Example

• Mercury is only present in small amounts in seawater, it is absorbed by algae (generally as methylmercury). Methyl-mercury is the most harmful variation of mercury. It is efficiently absorbed, but only very slowly excreted by organisms. Bioaccumulation and bioconcentration result in buildup in the adipose tissue of successive trophic levels: zooplankton, small nekton, larger fish etc.
• Anything which eats these fish also consumes the higher level of mercury the fish have accumulated. This process explains why predatory fish such as swordfish and sharks or birds like osprey and eagles have higher concentrations of mercury in their tissue than could be accounted for by direct exposure alone. For example, herring contains mercury at approximately 0.01 parts per million (ppm) and shark contains mercury at greater than 1 ppm