Jacob (Jack) Silverman

Research interests:

Among others, my research explores the relations between abiotic conditions and the turnover rates of biologically modified chemical constituents in seawater in order to understand the apparent geographical distribution and development of ecosystems in the marine environment such as tropical coral reefs, shallow temperate reefs and seagrass meadows. In my studies, I have focused on the effect of ocean acidification and nutrients on the organic and inorganic carbon budgets of these ecosystems. I am also interested in marine biogeochemical processes with emphasis on understanding the relations between water quality (including fecal bacteria and eutrophic parameters), sediment quality, submarine groundwater discharge, coastal stream, urban and rural drainage systems discharges into coastal waters,  hydrodynamics, sediment transport, bio-accumulation of heavy metals, CaCO3 production and dissolution, carbon uptake, production and burial in pelagic and benthic ecosystems along the Mediterranean coast of Israel and in the deep waters of the Israeli Mediterranean EEZ. During these studies, I have employed a variety of research and analytical approaches, including field observational work, carbonate system parameters in seawater, dissolved inorganic nutrients, heavy metal analysis (mostly mercury) in the dissolved, particulate and organic phases as well as state of the art hydrodynamic coupled ecological modeling, mostly of coastal ecosystems along the shore of Israel. Over the last few years I have been studying the relations between lightning and the marine environment, including studying the effects of seawater properties on the intensity of laboratory generated lightning and how they might relate to the real world phenomenon, the effects of acoustic noise generated by lightning strikes at the sea surface and its effect on marine biota, the relation between seawater chemistry, the content of charged particles in the atmosphere above, space weather and the occurrence of lightning in the marine environment.  

Selected publications:

Tchernov D., Silverman J., Luz B., Reinhold L. and Kaplan A. (2003). Massive light-dependent cycling of inorganic carbon between oxygenic photosynthetic microorganisms and their surroundings. Photosynthesis Research, 77(2):95-103. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1025869600935

Silverman J., Lazar B., Erez J. (2007). The effect of aragonite saturation, temperature and nutrients on the community calcification rate of a coral reef. J. Geophys. Res., 112, C05004. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JC003770

Silverman J., Lazar B., Erez J. (2007). Community metabolism of a coral reef exposed to naturally varying dissolved inorganic nutrient loads. Biogeochemistry. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10533-007-9075-5

Silverman J. and Gildor H. (2008). The residence time of an active versus a passive tracer in the Gulf of Aqaba: A box model approach. Journal of Marine Systems, 71:158 – 170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2007.06.007

Biton E., Silverman J., Gildor H. (2008). Observations and Modeling of pulsating density currents in the Northern Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba). Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L14603. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL034123

Silverman J., Lazar B., Cao L., Caldeira K. and Erez J. (2009). Coral reefs may start dissolving when atmospheric CO₂ doubles. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L05606. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL036282

Schneider K., Silverman J., Woolsey E., Eriksson H., Byrne M., Caldeira K. (2011). Potential influence of sea cucumbers on coral reef CaCO₃ budget: A case study at One Tree Reef. J. of Geophys Res, 116. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001755

Kline, D., Teneva, L., Schneider, K., Miard, T., Chai, A., Marker, M., Headley, K., Opdyke, B., Nash, M., Valetich, M., Caves, J.K., Russell, B.D., Connell, S.D., Kirkwood, B.J., Brewer, P., Peltzer, E., Silverman, J., Caldeira, K., Dunbar, R.B., Koseff, J.R., Monismith, S., Mitchell, B.G., Dove, S. and Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2012). A short-term in situ CO₂ enrichment experiment on Heron Island (GBR). Scientific Reports, 2. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00413

Klein Y., Grinstein M., Cohn S.M., Silverman J., Klein M., Kashtan H., Shamir M.Y. (2012). Minute-to-Minute Urine Flow Rate Variability: A New Renal Physiology Parameter. Anesthesia & Analgesia. http://dx.doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0b013e3182625813

Silverman J., Kline D., Johnson L., Rivlin T., Schneider K., Erez J., Lazar B., Caldeira K. (2012). Carbon turnover rates in the One Tree Island reef – A 40 year perspective. J. Geophys. Res., VOL. 117, G03023. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JG001974

Hamylton S., Silverman J. and Shaw E. (2013). The use of remote sensing to scale up measures of carbonate production on reef systems: a comparison of hydrochemical and census-based estimation methods. International Journal of Remote Sensing. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2013.800654

Schneider K., Silverman J., Kravitz B., Rivlin T., Schneider-Mor A., Barbosa S., Byrne M., Caldeira K. (2013). The inorganic carbon turnover caused by the digestion of carbonate sands and metabolic activity of holothurians. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 133:217-223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2013.08.029

Silverman J., K. Schneider, D. I. Kline, T. Rivlin, A. Rivlin, S. Hamylton, B. Lazar, J. Erez, K. Caldeira (2014). Community calcification in Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef: A 33 year perspective. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 144:72-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2014.09.011

Shefer E., Silverman J., Herut B. (2015). Trace metal bioaccumulation in Israeli Mediterranean coastal marine mollusks. Quaternary International, 390:44-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.030

Guy-Haim T., Silverman J., Raddatz S., Wahl M., Israel A., Rilov G. (2016). The carbon turnover response to thermal stress of a dominant coralline alga on the fast warming Levant coast. Limnology & Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10279

Albright R., Caldeira L., Hosfelt J., Kwiatkowski L., Maclaren J.K., Mason B.M., Nebuchina Y., Ninokawa A., Pongratz J., Ricke K.L., Rivlin T., Schneider K., Sesboüé M., Shamberger K., Silverman J., Wolfe K., Zhu K., Caldeira K. (2016). Reversal of ocean acidification enhances net coral reef calcification. Nature, 531(7594), 362-365. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17155

Ozer T., Gertman I., Kress N., Silverman J. and Herut B. (2016). Interannual thermohaline (1979-2014) and nutrient (2002-2014) dynamics in the Levantine surface and intermediate water masses, SE Mediterranean Sea. Global and Planetary Change. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2016.04.001

Grossowicz M., Roth-Rosenberg D., Aharonovich D., Silverman J., Follows M.J. and Sher D. (2017). Prochlorococcus in the lab and in silico: the importance of representing exudation. Limnology & Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10463

Lubinevsky, H., Hyams-Kaphzan, O., Almogi-Labin, A., Silverman, J., Harlavan, Y., Crouvi, O., Herut, B., Kanari, M., Tom, M (2017). Deep-sea soft bottom infaunal communities of the Levantine Basin (SE Mediterranean) and their shaping factors. Mar Biol 164, 36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-3061-1

Astrahan P., Silverman J., Gertner Y., Herut B. (2017). Spatial Distribution and Sources of Organic Matter and Pollutants in the SE Mediterranean (Levantine basin) Deep Water Sediments. Marine Pollution Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.006

Sisma-Ventura G., Bialik M.O., Yam R., Herut B., Silverman J. (2017). pCO₂ variability in the surface waters of the ultra-oligotrophic Levantine Sea: Exploring the air–sea CO2 fluxes in a fast warming region. Marine Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2017.06.006

Rahav E., Raveh O., Hazan O., Gordon N., Kress N., Silverman J., Herut B. (2018). Impact of nutrient enrichment on productivity of coastal water along the Mediterranean shore of Israel – A bioassay approach. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 127:559-567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.12.048

Cryonak T., Andersson A.J., Langdon C., Albright R., Bates N.R., Caldeira K., Carlton R., Corredor J.E., Dunbar R.B., Enochs I., Erez J., Eyre B.D., Gattuso J-P., Gledhill D., Kayanne H., Kline D.I., Koweek D., Coulson L., Lazar B., Manzello D., McMahon A., Melendez M., Page H.N., Santos I.R., Schulz K.G., Shaw E., Silverman J., Suzuki A., Teneva L., Watanabe A., Yamamoto S. (2018) Taking the metabolic pulse of the world’s coral reefs. PLoS ONE, 13(1): e0190872. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190872

Hazan, O., Silverman, J., Sisma-Ventura, G., Ozer, T., Gertman, I., Shoham-Frider, E., Kress, N. and Rahav, E. (2018). Mesopelagic Prokaryotes Alter Surface Phytoplankton Production during Simulated Deep Mixing Experiments in Eastern Mediterranean Sea Waters. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, p.1. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00001

Lykkebo Petersen K., Paytan A., Rahav E., Levy O., Silverman J., Barzel O., Potts D. and Bar-Zeev E. (2018). Impact of brine and antiscalants on reef-building corals at the Gulf of Aqaba – Potential effects from desalination plants. Wat. Res., 144:183-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.07.009

Steiner Z., Turchyn A.V., Harpaz E. and Silverman J. (2018). Water chemistry reveals a significant decline in coral calcification rates in the southern Red Sea. Nature Communications, 9(1), 3615. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06030-6

Kress, N., Rahav, E., Silverman, J., & Herut, B. (2019). Environmental status of Israel's Mediterranean coastal waters: Setting reference conditions and thresholds for nutrients, chlorophyll-a and suspended particulate matter. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 141, 612-620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.02.070

McMahon, A., Santos, I. R., Schulz, K. G., Scott, A., Silverman, J., Davis, K. L., & Maher, D. T. (2019). Coral reef calcification and production after the 2016 bleaching event at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC014698

Peleg, O., Guy-Haim, T., Yeruham, E., Silverman, J., Rilov, G. (2019). Tropicalisation may invert trophic state and carbon budget of shallow temperate rocky reefs. Journal of Ecology. http://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13329

Shoham-Frider, E., Gertner, Y., Guy-Haim, T., Herut, B., Kress, N., Shefer, E., & Silverman, J. (2020). Legacy groundwater pollution as a source of mercury enrichment in marine food web, Haifa Bay, Israel. Science of The Total Environment. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136711Wood, J.E., Silverman, J., Galanti, B., Biton, E. (2020). Modelling the distributions of desalination brines from multiple sources along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Water Research, 115555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.115555

Asfur, M., Price, C., Silverman, J. and Wiskerman, A. (2020). Why is lightning more intense over the oceans? Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2020.105259

Guy-Haim, T., Silverman, J., Wahl, M., Aguirre, J., Noisette, F., & Rilov, G. (2020). Epiphytes provide micro-scale refuge from ocean acidification. Marine Environmental Research, 105093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105093

Asfur, M., Silverman, J. and Price, C. (2020). Nature Sc. Rep. Ocean acidification may be increasing the intensity of lightning over the oceans. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79066-8

Rahav E., Raveh, O., Yanuka-Golumb, K., Belkin, N., Astrahan, P., Maayani, M., Tsumi, N., Kiro, Y., Herut, B., Silverman, J. and Angel, D. (2020). Nitrate-enrichment structures phytoplankton communities in the shallow eastern Mediterranean coastal waters. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.611497

Guy-Haim, T., Rubin-Blum, M., Rahav, E., Belkin, N., Silverman, J. and Sisma-Ventura, G. (2020). The effects of decomposing invasive jellyfish on biogeochemical fluxes and microbial dynamics in an ultra-oligotrophic sea. Biogeosciences, 17(22), 5489-5511. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5489-2020

Sisma-Ventura, G., Kress, N., Silverman, J., Gertner, Y., Ozer, T., Biton, E., Lazar, A., Gertman I., Rahav, E., & Herut, B. (2020). Post-EMT oxygen decline in the bathypelagic water masses of the Southeast Mediterranean Sea supports weakening of ventilation rates. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, 1202. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.598686

Sisma‐Ventura, G., Herut, B., Silverman, J., Katz, T., Rubin‐Blum, M., & Rahav, E. (2021). P fluxes and prokaryotic cycling at benthic boundary layer in the deep southeastern Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 126(4), e2020JG006110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020JG006110  

Kolker, D., Bookman, R., Herut, B., David, N., & Silverman, J. (2021). An initial assessment of the contribution of fresh submarine ground water discharge to the alkalinity budget of the Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans126 e2020JC017085. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC017085

Silverman, J., Price, C., & Asfur, M. (2021). The possible effect of seawater total alkalinity on lightning flash intensity—An experimental approach. Geophysical Research Letters, 48 e2021GL093654. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093654

Mulas, M., Silverman, J., & Rilov, G. (2022). Biomass calibration of nine dominant native and non-native Levantine seaweeds. Aquatic Botany, 103496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2022.103496  

Ozer, T., Rahav, E., Gertman, I., Sisma-Ventura, G., Silverman, J., & Herut, B. Relationship between thermohaline and biochemical patterns in the Levantine upper and intermediate water masses, Southeastern Mediterranean Sea (2013-2022). Frontiers in Marine Science, 1333. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.958924

Keuter, S., Silverman, J., Krom, M. D., Sisma-Ventura, G., Yu, J., Tsemel, A., Ben-Ezra, T., Sher, D., Reich, T., Koplovitz, G., & Frada, M. J. (2022). Seasonal patterns of coccolithophores in the ultra-oligotrophic South-East Levantine Basin, Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Marine Micropaleontology, 102153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2022.102153

Moav‐Barzel, O., Erez, J., Lazar, B., & Silverman, J. (2023). Higher nighttime rates of CaCO₃ dissolution in the Nature Reserve Reef, Eilat, Israel in 2015‐16 compared to 2000‐02. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, e2021JG006763. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JG006763

Mulas, M., Silverman, J., Guy-Haim, T., Noé, S., & Rilov, G. (2022). High climate vulnerably of the Levantine endemic and endangered habitat-forming macroalga, Gongolaria rayssiae: implications for reef carbon budget. Frontiers in Marine Science, 1447. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.862332  

Bialik, O. M., Sisma-Ventura, G., Vogt-Vincent, N., Silverman, J., & Katz, T. (2022). Role of oceanic abiotic carbonate precipitation in future atmospheric CO₂ regulation. Scientific reports, 12(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20446-7    

Rahav, E., & Silverman, J. (2022). Cobalamin co‐limits phytoplankton and bacterial biomass and activity in Eastern Mediterranean coastal waters. Geophysical Research Letters, e2022GL100602. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL100602

Asfur, M., Price, C., Yair, Y., & Silverman, J. (2023). Spatial variability of lightning intensity over the Mediterranean Sea correlates with seawater properties. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 5834. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33115-0.

Past and Present Graduate students under my supervision

Graduation date	Name	Title of thesis
2017	Oriya Barzel	Impacts of extreme environmental conditions on the metabolism of a coral reef in the Gulf of Eilat.
2018	Olesya Polipnova	Water quality impact of urban drainage system runoff along the Mediterranean coast of Israel.
2017	Ohad Peleg	Impacts of change in biodiversity on ecosystem functioning of Levant reefs.
2019	Dina Kolker	Influence of submarine ground water discharge on the total alkalinity levels in Israeli Mediterranean coastal waters.
2021	Juntau Yu	Seasonal variations in carbonate system parameters of the South Eastern Mediterranean open water column.
2023	Shiran Strauch	The effect of sea state on the rate and composition of Fresh Groundwater Discharge in the Hanikra sea cave
2021	Idel Abramovich	The effect of electromagnetic radiation on the photosynthesis, respiration and calcification of Stylophora pistillata corals
2022	Michal Shamir	Examination of the abiotic mechanism for the movement of mercury from the coastal strip of Haifa bay to the sea
Ongoing	Alon Ben-David	The effect of Submarine Groundwater Discharge on the total alkalinity budget of the Eilat Reef
Ongoing	Omer Krispil	The effect of ocean acidification on the survival of fecal indicator bacteria in Mediterranean coastal waters
Ongoing	NetaLy Lipkin	Developing a GIS-based tool to improve the conservation and management of seagrasses in the Gulf of Aqaba

PhD Students

Graduation date	Name	Title of thesis
2017	Tamar Guy-Haim	Ocean warming and acidification effects on Levant versus Baltic benthic communities.
2022	Martina Mulas	The effects of biodiversity shifts – driven by climate change and bioinvasions – on reef ecosystem functions.
Ongoing	Keren Weiss	Factors Governing Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Heavy Metals Around Industrialized Bays: Haifa Bay as a Case Study

Post Docs

Graduation date	Name	Title of thesis
March 2019	Dr Julie Wood*	Hydrodynamic and biogeochemical modeling of the effects of desalination brines on the marine environment along the Mediterranean coast of Israel.