noun · academic
biomagnification
UK/ˌbaɪəʊˌmæɡnɪfɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/US/ˌbaɪoʊˌmæɡnɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/bi·o·mag·ni·fi·CA·tion
the increasing concentration of toxins in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain
Examples
“Mercury undergoes biomagnification, which is why large predatory fish often contain the highest levels.”
“Pesticide use can lead to biomagnification, harming top predators and humans.”
“Researchers monitor biomarkers in birds to assess biomagnification in the ecosystem.”
Band 8 sentence
“Persistent pollutants such as PCBs pose a serious risk because of biomagnification across trophic levels.”
Collocations
- biomagnification of mercury
- biomagnify up the food chain
Word family
Common mistakes
bioaccumulation and biomagnification are the same→bioaccumulation is accumulation within an organism; biomagnification is increase through trophic levels
biomagnifyed→biomagnified / biomagnification
Say it for a higher band
5build-up→6accumulation→7+biomagnification
Synonyms
bioaccumulation
Easily confused
bioaccumulation
“Mercury bioaccumulates in individual organisms, and biomagnification explains why top predators have the highest concentrations.”
Related words
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In Nature & Animals
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