Bioamplification and bioaccumulation are two important concepts in the environmental sciences that describe how substances accumulate in organisms.
Both biomagnification and bioaccumulation mechanisms play an important role in understanding the movement of contaminants through ecosystems.
Bioamplification refers to increasing concentrations of harmful substances as they move up the food chain, affecting organisms at higher levels.
Bioaccumulation, on the other hand, refers to the accumulation of substances in the body of an organism regardless of their place in the food chain in its life cycle.
What is Biomagnification?
The process of creating certain chemical or toxic substances at higher concentration levels of the food chain is called bioaugmentation. This is also called biopromotion.
Pharmaceutical products contain dangerous substances such as some toxins, heavy metals and mercury in large quantities.
As these substances grow and accumulate, they move up the food chain. When these contaminants are absorbed by organisms at various levels in the food chain, serious health hazards result.
What is Bioaccumulation?
Bioaccumulation is the process by which toxic chemicals such as pollutants, pesticides and other toxins accumulate directly in the human body through air, water, food, directly or through the skin.
Difference Between Biomagnification and Bioaccumulation
| Biomagnification | Bioaccumulation |
| Definition | |
| An increased concentration of a toxic chemical, the higher an animal is on the food chain. | Accumulation of a toxic chemical in the tissue of a particular organism. |
| Causes | |
| An increase in the level as one moves higher in the food chain. | An increase in the concentration of a substance inside an organism |
| Level of concentration of pollutant | |
| An increase in the concentration of pollutants as they move from one trophic level to the next. | An increase in the concentration of a pollutant in an organism. |
| Food Chain | |
| Biomagnification takes place between two given trophic levels. | Bioaccumulation takes place or occurs within a given trophic level |
| Example | |
| The transfer of pollutants and other absorbed toxins from the microscopic aquatic organisms into the small fish, which are later consumed by the larger fish and other aquatic animals. | Buildup or accumulation of mercury in fishes and other aquatic animals. |
Related Articles:
