Accumulation of Toxic Substances SNC 1 D ECOLOGY

Accumulation of Toxic Substances SNC 1 D – ECOLOGY UNIT

For Today: Bioaccumulation/magnification Whats activity the difference between bioaccumulation and biomagnification?

Biomagnification Activity 1. Each student will be dealt 1 card. Do not reveal your card right now. 2. Reveal your highest numbered card to your partner. The winner is the person with the higher card. The older student wins if there is a tie. 3. The winner takes the loser’s card and the loser sits down. 4. Repeat until there are 3 -4 players left.

Biomagnification Activity The remaining players are the top carnivores of our simulated ecosystem. Spades or clubs represent the amount of toxins they have accumulated. How many spades or clubs do they each have?

Question of the Day How do toxic materials accumulate within different species in an ecosystem?

Bioaccumulation What happens if you pour a lot of water into a funnel really fast? The funnel tends to fill up and overflow.

Bioaccumulation If you ingest toxic material faster than you can get rid of it, the toxin will accumulate within your body. Bioaccumulation organism. is the buildup of toxins within an

Bioaccumulation

Why should pregnant women avoid eating certain kinds of fish? Mercury content in large fish is very high and could damage the baby. What about in smaller fish?

Biomagnification is the tendency for species that are higher in trophic level to accumulate a high amount of toxic materials within their bodies.

Biomagnification

Biomagnification vs Bioaccumulation

Biomagnification Energy Transfer Level Amount of toxins upwards through trophic levels of toxins increases as you go up in trophic level. of energy upwards through trophic levels. of energy decreases as you go up in trophic level.

Sample Calculations If a fish eats 20 g of plankton, and each gram of plankton contains 0. 05 g of mercury, how much mercury has been consumed by the fish?

Biomagnification That fish has just consumed 1 gram of mercury. If a person consumes 5 fish over the course of 1 week, how many grams of mercury have they consumed during that week?

Biomagnification If that person can only remove 0. 5 grams of mercury from their body per week, how much is the net gain of mercury intake that week?

Homework/Quiz Next Day FND: Ecology Crossword Study your notes and worksheets. Come in for help if you need it. Try and understand concepts, don’t just memorize.