Sometimes we forget that what happens at the bottom of the food chain can have a big impact at the top. But, when it comes to toxins, it's like a game of 'toxic tag', where the one who's 'it' last, loses the most.
Non-biodegradable toxins are like those super annoying glittery stickers that just won't come off, no matter how hard you try. They are not broken down as they move up the food chain. They're often fat-soluble, so they like to hang out in the fatty tissues of organisms, accumulating over time. We call this bioaccumulation. It's like if you kept all the coins you ever got; they'd eventually pile up and take up a lot of space!
Now, every level in the food chain also loses some of its energy through processes like respiration (kind of like how you might burn off that candy bar during a workout). But, the toxins are not 'burned off' and actually become more concentrated. It's as if you burned off the chocolate of a candy bar, but all the sprinkles remained and became concentrated. This increase in the toxin concentration is called biomagnification.
Because of biomagnification, the concentration of toxins becomes greatest in top carnivores. So, the super cool predator at the top of the food chain, like a bald eagle, ends up with a belly full of toxins. That can make populations of top carnivores unstable and prone to decline. Imagine if all the school principals suddenly got sick, the schools would be in chaos!
Dive deeper and gain exclusive access to premium files of Environmental Systems & Societies SL. Subscribe now and get closer to that 45 ๐
Sometimes we forget that what happens at the bottom of the food chain can have a big impact at the top. But, when it comes to toxins, it's like a game of 'toxic tag', where the one who's 'it' last, loses the most.
Non-biodegradable toxins are like those super annoying glittery stickers that just won't come off, no matter how hard you try. They are not broken down as they move up the food chain. They're often fat-soluble, so they like to hang out in the fatty tissues of organisms, accumulating over time. We call this bioaccumulation. It's like if you kept all the coins you ever got; they'd eventually pile up and take up a lot of space!
Now, every level in the food chain also loses some of its energy through processes like respiration (kind of like how you might burn off that candy bar during a workout). But, the toxins are not 'burned off' and actually become more concentrated. It's as if you burned off the chocolate of a candy bar, but all the sprinkles remained and became concentrated. This increase in the toxin concentration is called biomagnification.
Because of biomagnification, the concentration of toxins becomes greatest in top carnivores. So, the super cool predator at the top of the food chain, like a bald eagle, ends up with a belly full of toxins. That can make populations of top carnivores unstable and prone to decline. Imagine if all the school principals suddenly got sick, the schools would be in chaos!
Dive deeper and gain exclusive access to premium files of Environmental Systems & Societies SL. Subscribe now and get closer to that 45 ๐
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