Using biomagnificacion and food chains, how does the use of insecticide threaten the survival of birds.

Answer 1

Biomagnification refers to the increasing concentration of toxins as a result of eating organisms in which those toxins are more widely dispersed. For example, imagine there was a toxin present in a piece of fruit. If you only ate that fruit once a week, it's probably not going to hurt you too much. If you ate it everyday, and sometimes twice a day, you can see how more of that toxin would be present in your system.

Similarly, crops which are sprayed with an insecticide may move up the food chain and threaten the lives of birds. Birds could ingest this insecticide either by eating bugs or plant material (such as seeds). Low levels may not hurt the birds, but if their diet comprises of mostly bugs and/or seeds, the amount of toxins could become amplified and hurt the species.