Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification, or biological magnification is the increase in
concentration of a substance, such as the
pesticide DDT, that occurs in a
food chain as a consequence of:Food chain
energeticsLow (or nonexistent) rate of excretion/degradation of the substance.It is an important concept in
ecology,
environmental science, and
ecotoxicology: it says that the solution to certain types of
pollution is not dilution, because food chains will concentrate the
pollutant.Although sometimes used interchangeably with '
bioaccumulation,' an important distinction is drawn between the two. Bioaccumulation occurs within a
trophic level, and is the increase in concentration of a substance in an individuals' tissues due to uptake from food and sediments in an aquatic milieu.
Bioconcentration is defined as occurring when uptake from the water is greater than excretion. (Landrum and Fisher, 1999). Thus bioconcentration and bioaccumulation occur within an organism, and biomagnification occurs across trophic (food chain) levels.
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Refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy metals move up the food chain, 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 become concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the chain. (See:
bioaccumulants.)
The increase in the concentration of bioaccumulated toxic chemicals in organisms higher on the food chain due to preferential storage of the toxic chemical in edible body parts. For example, chlorinated pesticides concentrate in the fat and skin of fish in contaminated lakes and streams and are biomagnified when those fish are eaten by larger fish, and perhaps eventually by mammals or birds of prey.
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