Jonathan Kennen
Jonathan has worked throughout his career to advance ecological and ecohydrological science as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA), National Water Census (NWC), Water Availability and Use Science Program (WAUSP) and Integrated Water Prediction (IWP) Program.
Dr. Kennen currently conducts and coordinates a highly diverse range of research to address the informational needs of the USGS, its partners, state agencies and NGOs. His research is centered on three primary areas: 1) evaluating the effects of hydrologic modification on stream assemblages, 2) assessing the effects of anthropogenic activities on aquatic ecosystem structure and function and 3) modeling flow alteration-ecology response relations. He is a co-developer of the USGS Hydroecological Integrity Assessment (HIT) Process which implements a set of tools for setting environmental-flow standards and comparing past and proposed streamflow alterations. Other ongoing research efforts include assessing the effects of water-supply development on aquatic assemblages, modeling the responses of stream macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages to land use changes, evaluating methods to support TMDL processes using hydrologic modification as a surrogate for aquatic life impairment, assessing ecological trends, and evaluating the effects of climate change on hydrological and ecological response. Dr. Kennen also represents the U.S. Geological Survey on multi-agency technical advisory committees addressing complex ecological, hydrological, water-quality, management, and natural resource issues and currently serves on the New Jersey Science Advisory Board (Ecological Processes Committee) and the Advisory Council for the New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute.
Professional Experience
2010-present, Member of New Jersey Science Advisory Board (Ecological Processes Committee).
2007, Co-developer of the USGS Hydroecological Integrity Assessment (HIT) Process which implements a set of tools for setting environmental-flow standards, and comparing past and proposed streamflow alterations.
2003-present, Member of New Jersey IBI Technical Advisory Committee.
2002-present, Member of Advisory Council of the New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute.
1996-present, Member of the Interagency Macroinvertebrate Biomonitoring Workgroup.
Referee for various journals including: Society for Freshwater Science, Ecohydrology, Freshwater Biology, Ecological Modelling, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, and American Water Resources Association.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Fisheries Biology, SUNY - College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
M.S. Aquatic Entomology, SUNY - College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
B.S. Biology, Longwood College, Farmville, VA
A.A. Liberal Arts, Suffolk Community College Selden, New York Professional Membership
Affiliations and Memberships*
Society for Freshwater Science
Sigma Xi
American Fisheries Society
American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists Professional Service
Science and Products
Use of an integrated flow model to estimate ecologically relevant hydrologic characteristics at stream biomonitoring sites
Development of the Hydroecological Integrity Assessment Process for Determining Environmental Flows for New Jersey Streams
Users' manual for the Hydroecological Integrity Assessment Process software (including the New Jersey Assessment Tools)
Effects of landscape change on fish assemblage structure in a rapidly growing metropolitan area in North Carolina, USA
Relation of Environmental characteristics to the composition of aquatic assemblages along a gradient of urban land use in New Jersey, 1996-98
Revised Protocols for Sampling Algal, Invertebrate, and Fish Communities as Part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
Evaluating temporal changes in stream condition in three New Jersey rive basins by using an index of biotic integrity
Water quality in the Long Island-New Jersey coastal drainages, New York and New Jersey, 1996–98
Trace elements and organochlorine compounds in bed sediment and fish tissue at selected sites in New Jersey streams— Sources and effects
Relation of macroinvertebrate community impairment to catchment characteristics in New Jersey streams
Relation of Benthic macroinvertebrate community impairment to basin characteristics in New Jersey streams
Science and Products
- Science
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 35
Use of an integrated flow model to estimate ecologically relevant hydrologic characteristics at stream biomonitoring sites
We developed an integrated hydroecological model to provide a comprehensive set of hydrologic variables representing five major components of the flow regime at 856 aquatic-invertebrate monitoring sites in New Jersey. The hydroecological model simulates streamflow by routing water that moves overland and through the subsurface from atmospheric delivery to the watershed outlet. Snow accumulation anAuthorsJ.G. Kennen, L. J. Kauffman, M. A. Ayers, D. M. Wolock, Susan J. ColarulloDevelopment of the Hydroecological Integrity Assessment Process for Determining Environmental Flows for New Jersey Streams
The natural flow regime paradigm and parallel stream ecological concepts and theories have established the benefits of maintaining or restoring the full range of natural hydrologic variation for physiochemical processes, biodiversity, and the evolutionary potential of aquatic and riparian communities. A synthesis of recent advances in hydroecological research coupled with stream classification hasAuthorsJonathan Kennen, James A. Henriksen, Steven P. NieswandUsers' manual for the Hydroecological Integrity Assessment Process software (including the New Jersey Assessment Tools)
This manual is a user’s guide to four computer software tools that have been developed for the Hydroecological Integrity Assessment Process. The Hydroecological Integrity Assessment Process recognizes that streamflow is strongly related to many critical physiochemical components of rivers, such as dissolved oxygen, channel geomorphology, and water temperature, and can be considered a “master variaAuthorsJames A. Henriksen, John Heasley, Jonathan Kennen, Steven NieswandEffects of landscape change on fish assemblage structure in a rapidly growing metropolitan area in North Carolina, USA
We evaluated a comprehensive set of natural and land-use attributes that represent the major facets of urban development at fish monitoring sites in the rapidly growing Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina metropolitan area. We used principal component and correlation analysis to obtain a nonredundant subset of variables that extracted most variation in the complete set. With this subset of variables, wAuthorsJ.G. Kennen, M. Chang, B.H. TracyRelation of Environmental characteristics to the composition of aquatic assemblages along a gradient of urban land use in New Jersey, 1996-98
Community data from 36 watersheds were used to evaluate the response of fish, invertebrate, and algal assemblages in New Jersey streams to environmental characteristics along a gradient of urban land use that ranged from 3 to 96 percent. Aquatic assemblages were sampled at 36 sites during 1996-98, and more than 400 environmental attributes at multiple spatial scales were summarized. Data matricesAuthorsJonathan Kennen, Mark A. AyersRevised Protocols for Sampling Algal, Invertebrate, and Fish Communities as Part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program
Algal, invertebrate, and fish communities are characterized as part of ecological studies in the U.S. Geological Survey.s National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Information from these ecological studies, together with chemical and physical data, provide an integrated assessment of water quality at local, regional, and national scales. Analysis and interpretation of water-quality data at theseAuthorsStephen R. Moulton, Jonathan Kennen, Robert M. Goldstein, Julie A. HambrookEvaluating temporal changes in stream condition in three New Jersey rive basins by using an index of biotic integrity
An index of biotic integrity (!B!) modified for New Jersey streams was used to compare changes in stream condition from the 1970s to the 1990s in Delaware, Passaic, and Raritan River Basins. Stream condition was assessed at 88 sampling locations. Mean IBI scores for all basins increased from the 1970s to the 1990s, but the stream-condition category improved (from fair to good) only for the DelawarAuthorsMing Chang, Jonathan Kennen, Ellyn Del CorsoWater quality in the Long Island-New Jersey coastal drainages, New York and New Jersey, 1996–98
No abstract available.AuthorsMark A. Ayers, Jonathan Kennen, Paul E. StackelbergTrace elements and organochlorine compounds in bed sediment and fish tissue at selected sites in New Jersey streams— Sources and effects
No abstract available.AuthorsGary R. Long, Ming Chang, Jonathan KennenRelation of macroinvertebrate community impairment to catchment characteristics in New Jersey streams
The level of macroinvertebrate community impairment was statistically related to selected basin and water-quality characteristics in New Jersey streams. More than 700 ambient biomonitoring stations were chosen to evaluate potential and known anthropogenic effects. Macroinvertebrate communities were assessed with a modified rapid-bioassessment approach using three impairment ratings (nonimpaired, mAuthorsJ.G. KennenRelation of Benthic macroinvertebrate community impairment to basin characteristics in New Jersey streams
No abstract available.AuthorsJonathan Kennen
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government