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Meet the Fisheries and Wildlife Faculty

David L. Galat

David L. Galat, Ph.D.

Cooperative Associate Professor
Fisheries and Wildlife
  • Phone: 573-882-9426
  • E-mail: GalatD@missouri.edu
  • Address: 302 Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building

Education

  • Ph.D., 1982, Colorado State University

Research

  • Large river ecology, native fish ecology and restoration ecology.

Research Summary

  • Galat's research focuses on predicting how environmental factors influence structure and function of large river-flood plain ecosystems, particularly fishes. Galat and his graduate students conduct research primarily on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. They define historical and existing patterns, evaluate the influence of human activities, and apply this knowledge to restoration and enhancement of river-floodplain resources at scales ranging from species to landscapes. He also develops guidelines for applying objective science within an adaptive management framework to river restoration programs.
  • Current graduate student projects include synthesizing river restoration practices in the upper Mississippi River basin, evaluating age-0 fish use of shallow, slow-velocity habitats in the Missouri River, assessing the importance of river-flood plain connectivity for fish recruitment, determining spawning migrations of paddlefish in relation to dams and river flows, evaluating wetland restoration efforts as measured by amphibian assemblage occupancy, and helping design adaptive rehabilitation programs for large river-flood plain ecosystems.
  • Galat was a member of the White House Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team evaluating the great Midwest flood of 1993. He served on the National Research Council's Committee to Assess the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Methods of Analysis and Peer Review for Water Resources Project Planning. He was team leader for the Central U.S. Large Rivers Node, National Riverine Restoration Science Synthesis Working Group, is a member of the Upper Mississippi River System Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program Science Panel, and is on the advisory board of The Nature Conservancy Great Rivers Center for Conservation and Learning. He also serves on the editorial board of River Research and Applications.

Selected Publications

  • O'Donnell, T. K., and D. L. Galat.
    Evaluation of success criteria and project monitoring in river enhancement within an adaptive management framework. In review.
  • Doisy, K. E. D. L. Galat, and K. S. Reeves.
    Growth of larval gizzard shad in the lower Missouri River channel: the importance of shallow, slow-velocity habitats. In review.
  • O'Donnell, T. K., and D. L. Galat.
    River restoration in the upper Mississippi River basin: approaches based on river uses, alterations, and management agencies. Restoration Ecology. In press.
  • Jacobson, R. B., and D. L. Galat. 2006.
    Flow and form in rehabilitation of large-river ecosystems: an example from the lower Missouri River. Geomorphology. 77:249-269.
  • Dieterman, D. J., E. Roberts, P. J. Braaten, and D. L. Galat. 2006.
    Reproductive development of the sicklefin chub, Macrhybopsis meeki, in the Missouri River. Prairie Naturalist. 38:113-130.
  • Galat, D. L., C. R. Berry, W. M. Gardner, J. C. Hendrickson, G. E. Mestl, G. J. Power, C. Stone, and M. R. Winston. 2005.
    Spatiotemporal patterns and changes in Missouri River fishes. Pages 249-291 in J. N. Rinne, R. M. Hughes, and B. Calamusso (editors). Historical changes in large river fish assemblages of the Americas. American Fisheries Society, Symposium 45, Bethesda, Maryland.
  • Galat, D. L., C.R. Berry, Jr., E. J. Peters, and R. G. White. 2005.
    Missouri River. Pages 427-480 in A. C. Benke and C. E. Cushing (editors). Rivers of North America. Elsevier, Oxford.
  • Dieterman, D. D., and D. L. Galat. 2005.
    Variation in body form, taste buds, and brain patterns of the sicklefin chub, Macrhybopsis meeki, in the Missouri River and lower Yellowstone River, USA. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 20:561-573.
  • Dieterman, D. D., and D. L. Galat. 2004.
    Large-scale factors associated with sicklefin chub distribution in the Missouri and lower Yellowstone Rivers. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 133:577-587.
  • Mattingly, H. T., J. Hamilton, and D. L. Galat. 2003.
    Reproductive ecology and captive breeding of the threatened Niangua darter, Etheostoma nianguae. American Midland Naturalist 149:375-383.
  • Mattingly, H. T., and D. L. Galat. 2002.
    Distributional patterns of the threatened Niangua darter, Etheostoma nianguae at three spatial scales, with implications for species conservation. Copeia 2002:573-585.
  • Sargent, J. C., and D. L. Galat. 2002.
    Fish mortality and physicochemistry in a managed wetland along the lower Missouri River. Wetlands Ecology and Management 10:113-119.
  • Galat, D. L., and I. Zweimüller. 2001.
    Conserving large-river fishes: is the highway analogy an appropriate paradigm? Journal of the North American Benthological Society 20:266-279.
  • Galat, D. L., and R. Lipkin. 2000.
    Restoring the ecological integrity of great rivers: historical hydrographs aid in defining reference conditions for the Missouri River. Hydrobiologia 422/423:29-48.
  • Tibbs. J. E., and D. L. Galat. 1998.
    The influence of river stage on endangered least terns and their fish prey in the Mississippi River (USA). Regulated Rivers: Research and Management 14:257-266.
  • Galat, D. L., and 16 coauthors. 1998.
    Flooding to restore connectivity of regulated, large-river wetlands. BioScience 48:21-33.
  • Poddubny, A. G., and D. L. Galat. 1995.
    Habitat associations of upper Volga River fishes: effects of reservoirs. Regulated Rivers: Research and Management 11:67-84.

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