Question

If you are concerned about biomagnification of toxins, which one of the following would you most want to avoid eating? A. Tuna (tertiary consumer) B. Seaweed (producer) C. Urchin (primary consumer) D. Sculpin (secondary consumer) E. Any photoautotroph

Short answer

Tuna (tertiary consumer)

Step-by-step solution

Understand Biomagnification

Biomagnification is the process where the concentration of toxins increases in organisms at higher levels of a food chain.

Identify the Trophic Levels

Classify each option by its trophic level: A. Tuna - Tertiary Consumer B. Seaweed - Producer C. Urchin - Primary Consumer D. Sculpin - Secondary Consumer E. Any photoautotroph - Producer

Determine Toxin Accumulation

Toxins accumulate more in organisms at higher trophic levels. Therefore, the higher the trophic level, the more concerning it is in terms of biomagnification.

Analyze and Compare

Compare the options: Tuna (tertiary consumer) would have the highest concentration of toxins because it is at the top of the food chain, whereas seaweed and other photoautotrophs have the lowest.

Conclusion

Considering biomagnification, the most concerning organism to eat would be at the highest trophic level, which is Tuna.

Key concepts

Trophic Levels

Trophic levels describe the position of an organism in a food chain. There are several trophic levels, starting from producers and moving up to higher-level consumers.
Producers, like plants and algae, are at the lowest level. They create their own food through photosynthesis.
Primary consumers, such as herbivores, feed on these producers.
Secondary consumers, like carnivores and omnivores, eat the primary consumers.
Tertiary consumers, at the top, feed on secondary consumers.
Understanding trophic levels is crucial to grasp how energy and toxins move through a food chain.

Toxins

Toxins are harmful substances that can accumulate in organisms. In the context of the food chain, certain toxins cannot be easily broken down or excreted by organisms.
As a result, these toxins build up in tissues over time. This is especially problematic because when a predator eats prey that has accumulated toxins, the predator absorbs those toxins, adding to its own load.
This process continues up the trophic levels, leading to higher toxin concentrations in top-level predators. Understanding toxins and their behavior in ecosystems helps explain the concept of biomagnification.

Food Chain

A food chain illustrates how energy and nutrients flow through an ecosystem, from producers to various levels of consumers. In the simplest form, a food chain starts with a producer, which is eaten by a primary consumer. This primary consumer is then eaten by a secondary consumer, which may be consumed by a tertiary consumer.
For example: Seaweed (producer) → Sea Urchin (primary consumer) → Sculpin (secondary consumer) → Tuna (tertiary consumer).
Within this structure, biomagnification explains how toxins become more concentrated at higher levels, especially affecting those at the top, like tuna.