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Nature & ecology

How a pollutant can become concentrated up a food chain

Some persistent substances accumulate as predators consume contaminated prey.

Biomagnification is an increase in the concentration of a substance at successive feeding levels in a food web. It can occur when a substance persists and organisms absorb it faster than they eliminate it. A predator eats many prey organisms and can receive the substance carried by each.

This differs from bioaccumulation, which concerns buildup within an organism over time. The two processes can be related, but they describe different comparisons. Not every pollutant biomagnifies; its chemical properties and the food web matter.

A small example

In a simplified aquatic chain, contaminated small organisms are eaten by fish, which are then eaten by fish-eating birds. Concentration can increase along the chain.

Keep in mind

The example describes a mechanism, not a prediction for a particular chemical or food.

Source & attribution

Biology 2e — Energy Flow through Ecosystems

OpenStax contributors · OpenStax, Rice University

CC BY 4.0. Rewritten as a self-contained explanation; the example and reflection are Vakataka additions. Written and edited with AI assistance. No source images reproduced.

Source edition: 2024-12-20T02:54:45Z