Food chains

aspects of the ecosystem

graphical representation designed to show the biomass or biomass productivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem

position of an organism in a food chain

Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance faster than it can be lost or eliminated by catabolism and excretion. Thus, the longer the biological half-life of a toxic substance, the greater the risk of chronic poisoning, even if environmental levels of the toxin are not very high. Bioaccumulation, for example in fish, can be predicted by models. Hypothesis for molecular size cutoff criteria for use as bioaccumulation potential indicators are not supported by data. B

synthesis of organic compounds from atmospheric or aqueous carbon dioxide

thumb|Biomagnification is a process causing the concentration of a substance (crosses) to increase at higher levels of the food chain. thumb|In this scenario, a pond has been contaminated with toxic waste. Further up the food chain, the concentration of the contaminant increases, sometimes resulting in the top consumer dying. Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification or biological magnification, is the increase in concentration of a substance in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain.

organism in an ecosystem that produces biomass from inorganic compounds

Ecosystem event

behavioral ecology model

In biology, syntrophy, syntrophism, or cross-feeding () is the cooperative interaction between at least two microbial species to degrade a single substrate. This type of biological interaction typically involves the transfer of one or more metabolic intermediates between two or more metabolically diverse microbial species living in close proximity to each other. Thus, syntrophy can be considered an obligatory interdependency and a mutualistic metabolism between different microbial species, wherein the growth of one partner depends on the nutrients, growth factors, or substrates provided by the

In aquatic toxicology, bioconcentration is the accumulation of a water-borne chemical substance in an organism exposed to the water.