trophic transfer

trophic transfer (countable and uncountable, plural trophic transfers)

1. The transference of materials, such as chemicals, contaminants, plastics, etc., through different trophic levels of the food web.
   • 2021, Alice A. Horton, Isobelle Blissett, Impacts of Plastic Pollution on Freshwater Aquatic, Terrestrial and Avian Migratory Species in the Asia and Pacific Region, Convention on Migratory Species, page 26:

     It is also commonly observed that predators of seabirds ingest high quantities of plastics via trophic transfer.