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Copyright © 2000, Thinkwell Corp., All Rights Reserved. 031600bio322
People began to suspect an environmental
problem when populations of fish-eating birds
began to decline drastically. The levels of
pesticides found in the birds’ tissues were in
much greater concentration than were present
in the environment.
The phenomenon of biological
magnification describes the process in which
substances become concentrated with each
higher trophic level. In one study, the DDT
concentration was 10 million times greater in
the topmost predator than in the primary
producer’s water supply (see the illustration
on the left).
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Copyright © 2000, Thinkwell Corp., All Rights Reserved. 031600bio322