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Are the Top Carnivores Endangered by Heavy Metal Biomagnification?

1991; Wiley; Volume: 60; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/3545083

1600-0706

Ryszard Laskowski,

Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies

During the last few decades some confusion has arisen as to the problem of pollutants' transfer in food-chains, particularly in terrestrial ecosystems. Since the 1960s it is known that concentrations of at least some of the pollutants are increasing along the food-chains (Odum 1971, Colinvaux 1973, Collier et al. 1973). This would imply that top-carnivores were especially endangered with elevated levels of pollutants. On the other hand, the data on heavy metal transfer along the terrestrial food chains are very divergent and indicate diversified patterns of the process (see Ernst and Joosse-van Damme 1983). Confusion around this phenomenon is still deepened with the misused terminology (compare Odum 1971, Collier et al. 1973, Ernst and Joosse-van Damme 1983, Ferard et al. 1983). In the sense of pollutant concentration increase along the trophic chains I prefer to use the term because of its inherent implication of making something to appear larger. Later on I shall use a quantitative biomagnification factor (B) which indicates how many times the whole-body concentration of a pollutant (or nutrient) is greater (or lower) in the organism from a given trophic level than is the concentration of this substance in the food (prey) of such organism: