The temporal dynamics of heterotrophic bacterioplankton in the coastal eastern Mediterranean Sea.

<p>Data presented are for bacterial abundance, BA (A) and bacterial production, BP (B) between April 2013 and April 2015.</p

The relationship between bacterial production (BP) and bacterial abundance (BA) or primary production (PP) in the open and coastal water of the Levantine Basin.

<p>Data for the open sea stations (euphotic zone, bottom depth of stations >1000 m) were compiled from Zohary & Robarts [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref004" target="_blank">4</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref002" target="_blank">2</a>], Zohary et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref004" target="_blank">4</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref003" target="_blank">3</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref004" target="_blank">4</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref004" target="_blank">4</a>], Christaki et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref004" target="_blank">4</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref005" target="_blank">5</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref004" target="_blank">4</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref006" target="_blank">6</a>], Turley et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref004" target="_blank">4</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref007" target="_blank">7</a>], Van Wambeke et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref001" target="_blank">1</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref007" target="_blank">7</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref004" target="_blank">4</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref008" target="_blank">8</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref004" target="_blank">4</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref009" target="_blank">9</a>], Ignatiades et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref050" target="_blank">50</a>], Kress et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref005" target="_blank">5</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref001" target="_blank">1</a>], Tanaka et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref005" target="_blank">5</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref002" target="_blank">2</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref005" target="_blank">5</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref003" target="_blank">3</a>], Pulido-Villena et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref001" target="_blank">1</a><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref005" target="_blank">5</a>], and Rahav et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref038" target="_blank">38</a>]. A 95% confidence interval (CI) is presented for the slope and the intercept.</p

The temporal dynamics of N₂ fixation in the coastal eastern Mediterranean Sea.

<p>Data was collected from April 2013 to April 2015, following 24 h incubations under ambient light and temperature.</p

The chemical characteristics of surface seawater (~2 m deep) sampled between April 2013 and April 2015.

<p>*A range provided using both the routine sampling and the measurements taken during the sewage effluent discharge.</p><p>The limits of detection (twice the standard deviation of the blank) were 0.08 µM for nitrate+ nitrite, 0.008 μM for phosphate, and 0.05 μM for silicic acid. BDL: below detection limit, NA: not available.</p

The temporal dynamics of autotrophic bacterioplankton in the coastal eastern Mediterranean Sea.

<p>Data presented are for Chl a (A) pico-phytoplankton (B) and primary production, PP (C) between April 2013 and April 2015.</p

The seasonal surface (2 m) variability of temperature (open circle) and salinity (black circle).

<p>Data were collected between April 2013 and April 2015 at the study site off the eastern Mediterranean coast.</p

Comparison between the open and coastal Levantine Basin (eastern Mediterranean Sea) water.

<p>Box-plot distribution of NO₂+NO₃ (A), PO₄ (B), Si(OH)₄ (C), bacterial production, BP (D), primary production, PP (E) and N₂ fixation (F) in the open Levantine Basin (euphotic zone, bottom depth of stations >1000 m) and in the coastal site (this study). Data for the open sea were compiled from Yogev et al., [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref035" target="_blank">35</a>]; Kress et al., [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref003" target="_blank">3</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref036" target="_blank">36</a>], Rahav et al., [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref037" target="_blank">37</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref038" target="_blank">38</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref039" target="_blank">39</a>]; Bonnet et al., [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref040" target="_blank">40</a>], Ibello et al., [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140690#pone.0140690.ref041" target="_blank">41</a>] and Rahav et al., unpublished.</p

The relationship between temperature and bacterioplankton in the coastal eastern Mediterranean Sea.

<p>Data presented are for total Chl a (A), primary production (B), bacterial abundance (C), bacterial production (D) and N₂ fixations (E) during the April 2013 to April 2015 sampling period.</p

Saline Groundwater from Coastal Aquifers As a Source for Desalination

Reverse osmosis (RO) seawater desalination is currently a widespread means of closing the gap between supply and demand for potable water in arid regions. Currently, one of the main setbacks of RO operation is fouling, which hinders membrane performance and induces pressure loss, thereby reducing system efficiency. An alternative water source is saline groundwater with salinity close to seawater, pumped from beach wells in coastal aquifers which penetrate beneath the freshwater-seawater interface. In this research, we studied the potential use of saline groundwater of the coastal aquifer as feedwater for desalination in comparison to seawater using fieldwork and laboratory approaches. The chemistry, microbiology and physical properties of saline groundwater were characterized and compared with seawater. Additionally, reverse osmosis desalination experiments in a cross-flow system were performed, evaluating the permeate flux, salt rejection and fouling propensities of the different water types. Our results indicated that saline groundwater was significantly favored over seawater as a feed source in terms of chemical composition, microorganism content, silt density, and fouling potential, and exhibited better desalination performance with less flux decline. Saline groundwater may be a better water source for desalination by RO due to lower fouling potential, and reduced pretreatment costs