What is biological magnification? Will the levels of this magnification be different at different levels of ecosystems?
Share
What is biological magnification? Will the levels of this magnification be different at different levels of ecosystems?
Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people’s questions, and connect with other people.
Login to our social questions & Answers Engine to ask questions answer people’s questions & connect with other people.
biological magnification refers to the process of increase in the concentration of a toxic chemical with the increasing trophic level in a food chain.
Let us take the example of lead poisoning which may affect plants because of water pollution. The level of lead would be at a particular level in plants. If a herbivore eat this plant the level of lead will be more in them because it would eat a large number of plants. Similarly, when a carnivore will eat a herbivore the level of lead would rise further because he will eat a large amount of herbivore.Hence, the level of magnification will increase as we reach at higher tropic level.
Biomagnification is the increasing concentration of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain.
In the food chain,
Grass ----> Grasshopper ----> Frog ----> Snake ----> Peacock
Peacock occurs at the highest trophic level (on the extreme right); therefore, it will have the maximum concentration of harmful chemicals in its body.