04 - Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification FIB

BIOACCUMULATION
 ________________________________________________________
 _____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
 Example: A rabbit eats grass that has recently been treated with fertilizer. A
fox comes along and eats the rabbit. The toxin will now be passed on to the
fox due to the fact that the rabbit could not eliminate the toxin from its system
BIOMAGNIFICATION
 ________________________________________________________
 ________________________________________________________
 Example: PCB’s, mercury, lead, DDT
Consider the following food pyramid:
ONE bird consumes 10 large fish (10 x

1,000,000 = 10,000,000 ppm of DDT)
ONE large fish consumes 10 small fish

(10 x 100,000 = 1,000,000 ppm of DDT)
ONE small fish consumes 10 zoopolankton

(10 x 10,000 = 100,000 ppm of DDT)
ONE zoopolankton consumes 10 pieces of

seaweed (10 x 1,000 = 10,000 ppm of DDT)
ONE producer (seaweed) absorbs 1,000

ppm of DDT from water
**Toxins INCREASE as you move up a pyramid. Therefore

a biomagnification pyramid is a REVERSE PYRAMID
compared to an ENERGY PYRAMID**
Cycling of Matter and Earth’s Spheres
RECALL:
The Law of Conservation of Mass - Matter cannot be created or destroyed
PRODUCERS CONSUMERS
DECOMPOSERS DEATH
 Matter is recycled through ecosystems and transformed and used many times
over and over again
Organic Substances Inorganic Substances

Complex structures that contain a Matter that does not contain a combination of
combination of atoms of carbon and carbon and hydrogen
hydrogen with other elements like oxygen
and nitrogen
Ex. Proteins, sugars, and fats that make up Ex. CO2, H2O, NH3
your body
 Organic chemicals undergo changes within living organisms and within ecosystems. Their
complex structures are broken down and rebuilt in a continuous cycling of matter. There is
no alternative source of matter, so to maintain life on Earth, matter must be recycled.
 Food is organic matter. Every time you eat, organic matter that was once part of other living
things passes into your body. Through the process of digestion, complex organic
molecules are broken down into simpler molecules. Cells use these simple molecules to
build complex molecules, which become part of your own structure.
 Also, decomposers break down organic matter in dead bodies and feces into small, inorganic
molecules. These small molecules pass into the soil or water, where they all become part of
the biotic environment at some future time.
 Scientists estimate that every particle in a human body is replaced at least once every 7
years!
Homework: Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification
In this activity you are going to analyze a food web to determine which organisms in the food
chain accumulate the greatest concentration of chemicals in their tissues and consider which
organisms in a food web might be most affected by the introduction of a toxic chemical to their
habitat. You will need to refer to your class notes to complete this activity.
When an animal consumes food having DDT residue, the DDT accumulates in the tissue of the
animal by a process called bioaccumulation. The higher an animal is on the food chain (e.g.
tertiary consumer such as seals), the greater the concentration of DDT in their body as a result
of a process called biomagnification. In this activity you will identify the way in which DDT might
move through a food chain.
Based on the food chain relationships denoted by the arrows in the food web diagram, label
each plant/animal with one of the following labels: primary producer, primary consumer,
secondary consumer or tertiary consumer. Next rank the relative concentration of DDE in each
plant/animal using the following scale: 1 = lowest concentration - 10 = highest concentration.
Finally, answer the five questions following the food web diagram
1. What is the difference between bioaccumulation and biomagnification?
2. Plants/animals from which of the following groups are most susceptible to problems from
DDT: primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer or tertiary consumer. Why?
3. What are some differences between the food chain of ospreys and the food chain of northern
harriers? How might these differences in the diet of osprey and northern harriers result in
exposure to different amounts of DDT?
4) a) Suppose an osprey eats 300 g of fish per day. The fish tissue consumed by the osprey has
an average DDE concentration of 0.1µg/g. How much DDE is the osprey consuming in one day?
b) Now suppose a bald eagle also eats 300 g of food per day. But, the bald eagle eats seal
carcasses that have washed up on the beach. The seal had eaten fisheating fish with 1.0 µg/g
DDT in their tissue. Much of the seal’s body is made of blubber (a fatty substance) and the DDT
bioaccumulates in the seal. So, the seal has 2.0 µg/g DDE in its tissue. If the bald eagle eats
300 g of seal, how much DDE does the bald eagle consume in one day?
5) Taking all factors into account, rank the following for likelihood of bioaccumulation: bald
eagles, osprey, seals, and northern harriers.

04 - Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification FIB

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

04 - Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification FIB

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

04 - Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification FIB

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BIOACCUMULATION

Consider the following food pyramid:

ONE bird consumes 10 large fish (10 x

ONE large fish consumes 10 small fish

ONE small fish consumes 10 zoopolankton

ONE zoopolankton consumes 10 pieces of

ONE producer (seaweed) absorbs 1,000

**Toxins INCREASE as you move up a pyramid. Therefore

The Law of Conservation of Mass - Matter cannot be created or destroyed

Organic Substances Inorganic Substances

You might also like