Biomagnification

Process of progressive accumulation in food chain

Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification or biological magnification, is the increase in concentration of a substance in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain. Biological magnification often refers to the process whereby substances such as pesticides or heavy metals work their way into lakes, rivers and the ocean, and then move up the food chain in progressively greater concentrations as they are incorporated into the diet of aquatic organisms such as zooplankton, which in turn are eaten perhaps by fish, which then may be eaten by bigger fish, large birds, animals, or humans. The substances become increasingly concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the chain.

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