What is biomagnification?

Biomagnification refers to the process through which the concentration of toxic substances, such as heavy metals or persistent organic pollutants, increases as one moves up the food chain. Organisms at lower trophic levels may accumulate these substances from their environment, but as predators consume these organisms, the toxins become more concentrated in their bodies. This increase occurs because the predators ingest not only the contaminants from the prey they consume but also the contaminants previously accumulated by those prey.

For instance, when small fish consume contaminated zooplankton, they will accumulate the toxins in their bodies. Larger fish that eat multiple smaller fish will have even higher concentrations of these toxins. As a result, top predators, including humans, can be significantly affected due to the higher levels of toxicity they accumulate through their diet. This phenomenon highlights the dangers of environmental pollutants, as they can have severe ecological and health impacts, especially at the higher trophic levels.

The other options relate to different ecological processes that do not capture the essence of biomagnification—the absorption of nutrients is a biological process occurring in plants and doesn't involve toxins, decomposition pertains to nutrient recycling, and migration involves species movement rather than toxin accumulation and concentration.