The progressive increase in the concentration of a persistent substance, such as certain pesticides or heavy metals, at each successive level of a food chain, as predators accumulate the burden carried by all the prey they consume over their lifetime. Top predators, including humans in some food webs, can carry the highest concentrations of a biomagnifying pollutant even when environmental levels are relatively low.
Facts
Process TypeBiogeochemical or Pedological 1 Connections
Sources
1. Biomagnification (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroductionQuote, Introduction
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.
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