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Biomagnification is a process causing the concentration of a substance (crosses) to increase at higher levels of the food chain. In this scenario, a pond has been contaminated with toxic waste. Further up the food chain, the concentration of the contaminant increases, sometimes resulting in the top consumer dying.
Biomagnification is another process related to bioaccumulation as the concentration of the chemical or metal increases as it moves up from one trophic level to another. [1] Naturally, the process of bioaccumulation is necessary for an organism to grow and develop; however, the accumulation of harmful substances can also occur. [7]
Food chain in a Swedish lake. Osprey feed on northern pike, which in turn feed on perch which eat bleak which eat crustaceans.. A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web, often starting with an autotroph (such as grass or algae), also called a producer, and typically ending at an apex predator (such as grizzly bears or killer whales), detritivore (such as earthworms and woodlice ...
Fugacity and BCF relate to each other in the following equation: = [6] where Z Fish is equal to the Fugacity capacity of a chemical in the fish, P Fish is equal to the density of the fish (mass/length 3), BCF is the partition coefficient between the fish and the water (length 3 /mass) and H is equal to the Henry's law constant (Length 2 /Time 2) [6]
Inorganic mercury can be converted by bacteria and archaea into methylmercury ([CH 3 Hg] +), [18] which bioaccumulates in marine species such as tuna and swordfish and biomagnifies further up the food chain. [19] [20] Certain xenophyophores have been found to have abnormally high concentrations of mercury within their bodies. [21]
The phenomena of radioactive bioaccumulation, bioconcentration and biomagnification, however, are especially known to sea level. They are caused by the recruitment and retention of radioisotopes by bivalves, crustaceans, corals and phytoplankton, which then amounted to the rest of the food chain at low concentration factors. [17]
The microbial food web refers to the combined trophic interactions among microbes in aquatic environments. These microbes include viruses, bacteria, algae, heterotrophic protists (such as ciliates and flagellates). [1] In aquatic ecosystems, microbial food webs are essential because they form the basis for the cycling of nutrients and energy.
Organisms, including humans, [26] fish-eating birds, and fish-eating mammals such as otters and cetaceans (i.e. whales and dolphins) that consume fish from the top of the aquatic food chain receive the methylmercury that has accumulated through this process, plus the toxins in their habitat.