Question

The term ‘biomagnification’ refers to the
A) Growth of organism due to food consumption
B) Increase in population size
C) Blowing up of environmental issues by man
D) Increase in the concentration of non-degradable pollutants as they pass through food chain
E) Decrease in population size

Answer 1

Hint: The biotic components of an ecosystem are arranged in several trophic levels. The energy produced at one level is passed on to another higher trophic level that is interdependent on each other.

Complete answer:
Biomagnification refers to the increase in the concentration of toxic chemicals as well as the non-degradable pollutants at successive trophic levels. This typically affects all of the organisms at several trophic levels as those toxins get accumulated and cannot be excreted easily. However, such toxins passed on through the food chains from one level to the next higher trophic level as a result of bioaccumulation and leads to Biomagnification. The process of Biomagnification is also known as Bio-amplification.

Hence, the correct answer is option D: Increase in the concentration of non-degradable pollutants as they pass through the food chain.

Additional Information: The ill-effects of water pollution were not immediately noticeable. It creates impact in their metabolism, behaviour, causes illness and eventual death. Thus water pollution drastically affects marine life.
For instance, in the process of Biomagnification, certain toxicants such as pesticides, heavy metals, or industrial waste waters flowing into rivers or lakes are eaten by many marine organisms such as fish. In many cases, these pollutants create an impact in the aquatic food chain. Because, such toxicants aren’t digested and they get accumulated within the animals that ingest them. Therefore, as they pass along the food chain, the large birds, animals, and humans in higher trophic levels are mostly affected because of the increase in the concentration of the toxicants. This phenomenon is well-known for mercury and DDT.

Note: Dioxin is a chemical that causes a lot of issues from reproduction to uncontrolled cell growth or even cancer. This toxic chemical gets bioaccumulation in fish, chicken and meat and this travels their way up the food chain before entering into the human body. Although all animals are exposed to this toxic chemical, seabirds are more severely affected than any other organisms in the world.