Tom Berman

Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute (IOLR) · Kinneret Limnological Lab

Biofouling impacts seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants by hindering module performance, increasing energetic demands, and incurring further costs. Here we investigated the spatial-temporal dynamics of microbial communities along the feedwater, pretreatment, and reverse osmosis stages of a large-scale SWRO desalination facility. Whil...

Rapid sand filtration (RSF), proceeded by chemical coagulation and flocculation, is a commonly used, effective pretreatment in the desalination industry. We designed and tested a novel, large pilot-scale, two-stage granular Rapid Bioflocculation Filter (RBF) based on a first-stage Bioflocculator (BF) unit followed by a mixed-media bed filter (MBF)....

Despite the importance of incubation assays for studies in microbial ecology that frequently require long confinement times, few reports are available in which changes in the assemblage structure of aquatic prokaryotes were monitored during long-term incubations. We measured rates of dissolved organic carbon degradation and microbial respiration by...

Transparent exopolymer particles (TEPs) are planktonic, organic microgels that are ubiquitous in aqueous environments. Increasing evidence indicates that TEPs play an active role in the process of aquatic biofilm formation. Frequently, TEPs are intensely colonized by bacteria and other microorganisms, thus serving as hot spots of intense microbial...

Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) are sticky organic microgels, ubiquitous in natural waters, which have been implicated as a potentially important factor in the development of aquatic biofilm. An experimental cross-flow membrane array was used to investigate the relationship between the rate of membrane clogging and levels of TEP and other wa...

Depth and spatial distribution patterns of transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) were measured during 2 east to west cruise transects across the ultra-oligotrophic Levantine basin, eastern Mediterranean Sea (SESAME, September 2008; ISRLEV, July 2009), and at 2 stations 20 and 50 km offshore (2008). TEP distribution was examined relative to chlorop...

The effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation (310-400 nm) on respiratory activity and photosynthetic carbon assimilation of the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and the green alga Selenastrum capricomutum were examined. When exposed for 2 h to 100 or 550 mu mol . m(-2). s(-1) photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) supplemented with UV-A + UV...

Appropriate devices for obtaining either interstitial water or grain particle samples or for measuring dissolved oxygen (DO) at depth within the interior of large-scale, industrial granular bed filters are currently lacking. We developed two innovative samplers for studying a Rapid Sand Filter (RSF) at an operational SWRO plant: the first for water...

Rapid sand filtration (RSF) is used today as an effective pretreatment procedure to enhance water quality prior to reverse osmosis (RO) membranes in desalination plants. RSF in newly operated desalination facilities requires a maturation period of about three months before the feedwater may be filtered efficiently. Up to date in the desalination in...

Semi-annual averaged values of photosynthetic carbon fixation (PCF), community respiration (CR), bacterial productivity (BP) and zooplankton carbon biomass, measured biweekly or monthly, were used to obtain long-term estimates of bacterial respiration (BR) and bacterial growth efficiency (BGE) in Lake Kinneret from 2001 through 2007. We posited tha...

Variations in transparent exopolymer particles (TEP), bacterial biomass production (BP) and primary productivity (PP) were followed over 52 h at a deep water station in the Gulf of Aqaba (Eilat, Israel) during the spring, in April 2008. About 20 h after the start of the study, there was a short (̃15 h) but intense storm event that probably caused a...

Bioassay experiments were performed to identify how growth of key groups within the microbial community was simultaneously limited by nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) availability during spring in the Gulf of Aqaba's oceanic waters. Measurements of chlorophyll a (chl a) concentration and fast repetition rate (FRR) fluorescence generally demonstra...

1. We used first-order kinetic parameters of biological oxygen demand (BOD), the constant of aerobic decomposition (k) and the asymptotic value of BOD (BODult), to characterise the lability of organic carbon pools in six lakes of different trophic state: L. Naroch, L. Miastro and L. Batorino (Belarus), L. Kinneret (Israel), L. Ladoga (Russia) and L...

Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) are ubiquitous in marine and freshwaters, and have been subject to intensive study by oceanographers and limnologists over the past 15 years. These microscopic organic particles (visualized by Alcian Blue staining for acid polysaccharides) may be considered a planktonic form of exopolymeric substances (EPS). T...

We studied for the first time the effects of geological substrates on taxonomic composition of epilithic algal assemblages in Lake Kinneret and their seasonal fluctuations. It is shown that both species richness and cell densities increase during the winter. Among the fifty-four species identified, the major groups were Bacillariophyta, Chlorophyta...

We hypothesize that transparent exopolymer particles (TEP), present in high concentrations in most sea and freshwaters, are critical agents for biofilm initiation and development in many natural and anthropogenic aquatic environments. These gel-like particles appear in many forms; amorphous blobs, clouds, sheets, filaments or clumps ranging in size...

1. Picophytoplankton (picocyanobacteria and picoeukaryotes) communities in Lake Kinneret were studied from 1988 to 1992. No prochlorophytes were observed in the lake. 2. Picocyanobacteria were a prominent and ubiquitous component of the phytoplankton, being present at all depths throughout the year, with concentrations ranging from 2 ± 10–8 ± 105 c...

Dr Boris Liberman and microbiologist Tom Berman introduce us to Microbial Support Capacity (MSC) – a biologically-oriented approach to check the efficiency of processes, such as pretreatment, in front of RO and NF membranes.

The following parameters were determined in the photic zone of Lake Kinneret from January 2001 through December 2002: primary production (PP), community respiration (CR), bacterial biomass production (BBP), bacterial numbers (BN) and biological oxygen demand (BOD(5)). Average values over the 2 yr period for these parameters in the photic zone (0 to...

Even though it is widely accepted that bacterioplankton growth in lakes and marine ecosystems is determined by the trophic status of the systems, knowledge of the relationship between nutrient concentrations and growth of particular bacterial species is almost nonexistent. To address this question, we performed a series of culture experiments with...

Two different phylogenetic groups of picophytoplankton, namely picocyanobacteria and picoeukaryotes, are represented in Lake Kinneret. Three species were isolated from the lake and identified as the picoeukaryote Mychonastes homosphaera and two picocyanobacteria, Synechococcus sp. A and B. Picocyanobacterial and M. homosphaera cultures grew well at...

On Feb 17, 2006 this sequence version replaced gi:23345184.

On Feb 17, 2006 this sequence version replaced gi:23345164.

On Dec 5, 2008 this sequence version replaced gi:23345153.

This paper presents the results of studies into the use of the emerging techniques of nutrient induced fluorescence transients (NIFTs) and Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectroscopy to determine the nutrient status of microalgae. Four species of microalgae were grown under conditions where growth rate was P-limited or P-replete, and NIFT respon...

The filamentous cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon ovalisporum was observed for the first time in Lake Kinneret in August 1994 and formed a prominent bloom from September through October. Aphanizomenon ovalisporum reappeared in diminished amounts in the summer and fall of 1995. These events are the first record of significant quantities of a potentially...

The metabolic activity associated with seston in Lake Kinneret, Israel, was estimated as specific (per unit dry weight, DW, or particulate organic carbon, POC) respiration during experimental studies in 1995. Some determinations of oxygen demand by seston and lake snow aggregates were also carried out in Lake Constance, Germany. About 86 and 84% of...

A description of the past and present water quantity and quality status of Lake Kinneret and its catchment (the Northern Jordan River system) is given as background to understanding the problems of water allocation and supply bedeviling the Middle East Peace Process. It is hoped that the future utilization and allocation of the waters of Lake Kinne...

The seasonal and vertical abundances of ciliates and flagellates are described over a 2 yr period in Lake Kinneret, Israel, a warm meso-eutrophic monomictic lake. Ciliate numbers ranged from 3 to 47 cells ml(-1). At the thermocline and oxycline region, the highest ciliate numbers were observed in autumn, with Coleps hirtus as the dominant species....

Autotrophic picoplankton populations in Lake Kinneret are composed of picocyanobacteria and picoeukaryotes. Overall, the rates of photosynthetic carbon fixed by autotrophic picoplankton during this study were low (0.01–1.5 mg Cm−3 h−1). The highest chlorophyll photosynthetic activity of the <3 μm cell-size fraction was found in spring, when picoeuk...

We have examined the relationship between primary productivity and the ''relative stability'' or resilience of ecosystems. Our conclusions differ from a recently proposed general stability-productivity relationship that suggests that more productive ecosystems are more resilient and thus recover more rapidly from perturbations. Analyses of a range...

The long-term (22 yr) record of primary production in Lake Kinneret, Israel, has been examined, together with chlorophyll and microscopically determined algal biomass, in order to discern whether there have been any significant changes in these parameters during this period. During the period 1972 through 1993, annual averages have ranged from 1,22...

Pomeroy's seminal paper [2] synthesized information then available on oceanic food webs and presented a more complete picture of pelagic ecosystems than that previously perceived. This paper laid the "ideological" foundation for the wealth of new information on the structure and function of microbial food webs that would be amassed in the subsequen...

Chlorophyll distribution in Lake Kinneret was estimated in a period of low chlorophyll-a concentrations (3–7 mg m−3) using remotely sensed data. The data set included high-spectral-resolution radiometric measurements in the range 400–750 nm, chlorophyll and suspended matter concentrations, Secchi disk transparency and vertical attenuation coefficie...

Carbon standing stock distribution in the cuphotic zone of Lake Kinneret and the immediate fate of primary-produced carbon arc very different during late winter-early spring (with the occurrence of the annual dinollagellate bloom) than they are in late summer (when nanophytoplankton are the dominant primary producers). We used a linear programming...