AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Background. The fact that DDT (or dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) played a role in the decline of bald eagle and other bird-of-prey populations (e.g., ospreys, brown pelicans) is now commonly appreciated among most biologists.

Detailed explanation-2: -The federal government’s banning of DDT and related pesticides, habitat protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act, and conservation actions taken by the American public have helped bald eagles make a remarkable recovery.

Detailed explanation-3: -The DDT pesticide was exposed to bald eagles by infecting the ground water in which fish would get infected and ending with consumption of the fish by the eagle. Bald eagles migrate to the shoreline to reproduce.

Detailed explanation-4: -Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is an insecticide used in agriculture. The United States banned the use of DDT in 1972. Some countries outside the United States still use DDT to control of mosquitoes that spread malaria.

Detailed explanation-5: -Poisons like DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) slowly accumulated in each stage of the food chain almost destroying some birds of prey like peregrine falcons and even our national symbol, the bald eagle.