What is biological magnification? Will the levels of this magnification be different at different levels of the ecosystem?

● Biomagnification is a phenomenon in which certain harmful chemicals such as pesticides, fungicides get accumulated in the body of organisms in higher concentration through food chain.

● The organisms at highest trophic level, in them accumulation is the highest.

● Example: DDT shows biomagnification. It is an insecticide used to kill mosquitoes.

● DDT gets accumulated in the successive trophic levels. Zooplankton, small nekton, larger fish etc., anyone who eats these fish also have higher level of DDT than fish.

● DDT found in phytoplankton is 800 times more than that of water and zooplanktons have five times more than that of Phytoplanktons.

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In fish population, it is increased 40 times and 25 times more in fish eating birds.