Cesium: Potassium Index of Food Web Structure and Biomagnification of Trace Elements in a Polluted Harbor of Southern California

摘要

A biological technique of quantifying trophic position in marine food webs, and a chemical technique of quantifying 'structure' in feeding relationships and resultant biomagnification potential, were applied to a polluted harbor ecosystem. The chemical index (cesium:potassium ratio) indicated that the food web sampled had a relatively high degree of structure. Nevertheless, of eleven trace elements measured, only mercury tissue concentrations systematically increased with trophic level. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that most pollutant trace elements do not biomagnify in marine food webs.