1. Some non-biodegradable substances like pesiticides or heavy metals have the tendency to accumulate in the tissues of living organisms.
2. When such organisms are eaten by their predators, these pollutants enter the bodies of predators.
3. At lower trophic level the concentration of such pollutant may be low, but when they are fed upon by their predator the amount of pollutant goes on increasing.
4. As shown in the diagram there is only 0.000003 ppm DDT in the water. This DDT level is meagre but when zooplankton survive in this water, DDT concentration increases in their body and becomes 0.04 ppm.
5. When many of these zooplankton are eaten by small fish, it rises to 0.5 ppm.
6. In turn, the several smaller fish are eaten by a large fish and in it the concentration rises to 2 ppm.
7. When such larger fishes are consumed by a bird, it receives maximum amount of DDT which might kill this bird.
8. In this way, the DDT level shows biomagnification. Biomagnification is thus the phenomena of increase in the concentration of non-biodegradable substances according to the food chain or trophic relationships.