Jonathan Friedman, Ph.D.
Biography
Jonathan Friedman is a hydrologist at the Fort Collins Science Center. Since joining the Fort Collins Science Center in 1993, he has devoted his career to studying interactions among riparian vegetation, river flow and channel change. Present research topics include use of riparian tree rings to reconstruct past river flow, quantification of federal reserved water rights, and determination of the effect of riparian vegetation on bank stability.
Education
- Ph.D. Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1993
- M.S. Oceanography and Limnology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1987
- B.S. Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1983
Professional Experience
- 1993-present, Hydrologist, USGS Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO
- 1990-1993, Hydrologist, USGS Water Resources Division, Lakewood, CO
- 1988-1990, Community College Instructor, Bellevue Community College, Olympic College and Front Range Community College, Washington and Colorado.
- 1988 Assistant Natural Area Scientist, Washington Natural Heritage Program, Olympia, Washington
Affiliations
- Ecological Society of America
- American Geophysical Union
Science and Products
Modeling effects of bank friction and woody bank vegetation on channel flow and boundary shear stress in the Rio Puerco, New Mexico
[1] We have applied a physically based model for steady, horizontally uniform flow to calculate reach-averaged velocity and boundary shear-stress distributions in a natural stream with woody vegetation on the channel banks. The model calculates explicitly the form drag on woody plant stems and includes the effects of vegetation on the boundary...
Griffin, E.R.; Kean, J.W.; Vincent, K.R.; Smith, J.D.; Friedman, J.M.Use of individualistic streamflow-vegetation relations along the Fremont River, Utah, USA to assess impacts of flow alteration on wetland and riparian area
We analyzed the transverse pattern of vegetation along a reach of the Fremont River in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA using models that support both delineation of wetland extent and projection of the changes in wetland area resulting from upstream hydrologic alteration. We linked stage-discharge relations developed by a hydraulic model to...
Auble, G.T.; Scott, M.L.; Friedman, J.M.Vegetation responses to dam removal
No abstract available.
Shafroth, Patrick B.; Friedman, Jonathan M.; Auble, Gregor T.; Scott, Michael L.Extreme floods, channel change, and riparian forests along ephemeral streams
The geomorphic effectiveness of extreme floods increases with aridity and decreasing watershed size. Therefore, in small dry watersheds extreme floods should control the age structure and spatial distribution of populations of disturbance-dependent riparian trees. We examined the influence of extreme floods on the bottomland morphology and forest...
Friedman, J.M.; Lee, V.J.Potential responses of riparian vegetation to dam removal
Throughout the world, riparian habitats have been dramatically modified from their natural condition. Dams are one of the principal causes of these changes, because of their alteration of water and sediment regimes (Nilsson and Berggren 2000). Because of the array of ecological goods and services provided by natural riparian ecosystems (Naiman and...
Shafroth, P.B.; Friedman, J.M.; Auble, G.T.; Scott, M.L.; Braatne, J.H.Effects of physical disturbance and granivory on establishment of native and alien riparian trees in Colorado, USA
In western North America, the alien Elaeagnus angustifolia L. invades riparian habitats usually dominated by pioneer woody species such as Populus deltoides Marshall ssp. monilifera (Aiton) Eckenwalder. We conducted manipulative field experiments to compare the importance of physical disturbance and granivory for seedling establishment of these...
Katz, G.L.; Friedman, J.M.; Beatty, S.W.High flow and riparian vegetation along the San Miguel River, Colorado
Riparian ecosystems are characterized by abundance of water and frequent flow related disturbance. River regulation typically decreases peak flows, reducing the amount of disturbance and altering the vegetation. The San Miguel River is one of the last relatively unregulated rivers remaining in the Colorado River Watershed. One goal of major...
Friedman, J.M.; Auble, G.T.Floods, flood control, and bottomland vegetation
Bottomland plant communities are typically dominated by the effects of floods. Floods create the surfaces on which plants become established, transport seeds and nutrients, and remove establish plants. Floods provide a moisture subsidy that allows development of bottomland forests in arid regions and produce anoxic soils, which can control...
Friedman, Jonathan M.; Auble, Gregor T.The disparity between extreme rainfall events and rare floods - with emphasis on the semi-arid American West
Research beginning 40 years ago suggested that semi-arid lands of the USA have higher unit discharges for a given recurrence interval than occur in other areas. Convincing documentation and arguments for this suspicion, however, were not presented. Thus, records of measured rainfall intensities for specified durations and recurrence intervals, and...
Osterkamp, W.R.; Friedman, J.M.Mortality of riparian box elder from sediment mobilization and extended inundation
To explore how high flows limit the streamward extent of riparian vegetation we quantified the effects of sediment mobilization and extended inundation on box elder (Acer negundo) saplings along the cobble-bed Gunnison River in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument, Colorado, USA. We counted and aged box elders in 144 plots of 37.2 m2,...
Friedman, Jonathan M.; Auble, Gregor T.Downstream effects of dams on channel geometry and bottomland vegetation: Regional patterns in the Great Plains
The response of rivers and riparian forests to upstream dams shows a regional pattern related to physiographic and climatic factors that influence channel geometry. We carried out a spatial analysis of the response of channel geometry to 35 dams in the Great Plains and Central Lowlands, USA. The principal response of a braided channel to an...
Friedman, J.M.; Osterkamp, W.R.; Scott, M.L.; Auble, G.T.Foreword
No abstract available.
Friedman, Jonathan M.; Scott, Michael L.; Patten, Duncan