Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G24AS00382

Opportunity Information: Apply for G24AS00382

The US Geological Survey (USGS) is offering a discretionary funding opportunity through a cooperative agreement to support research on the spatio-temporal dynamics of the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). The project is framed around a long-running challenge in large-river science and management: aquatic habitats, water quality, and biological communities such as aquatic vegetation, mussels, and fish are clearly related, but past work has often approached the problem from a species-centric or community-centric angle. In other words, many studies start by choosing a particular species or assemblage and then asking what environmental factors explain where it occurs and how abundant it is. USGS is seeking a collaborator who will take a different angle by focusing first on the riverscape itself and identifying which physical characteristics of that riverscape can be modeled and mapped at broad scales, and which of those characteristics are most important for structuring biological communities across space and time.

A key idea behind the opportunity is that biological communities shift over space and time in response to a mix of physical and biological drivers, and many of those drivers cannot realistically be mapped everywhere in a large river. Because of that limitation, the goal is not to claim definitive "controls" on communities, but to identify, measure, and quantify the parts of the riverscape that are both mappable and meaningfully connected to community patterns. This is meant to produce practical, scalable understanding that can be used across the UMRS, rather than being confined to site-specific explanations or single-species models. The work is expected to help translate complex river processes into landscape-level descriptors that can support prediction, mapping, and decision-making.

The opportunity also ties directly to management needs. Agencies actively manage and restore large rivers by manipulating physical variables (for example, habitat restoration actions, hydrologic or geomorphic interventions, or projects that change connectivity and aquatic area distribution). By clarifying which physical riverscape properties matter most for biotic community structure, the research can better inform what types of physical interventions are likely to produce desired biological responses. In addition, the project anticipates future change: it explicitly notes the expectation that the abundance and distribution of mappable aquatic areas may shift under climate change. A central applied question is what the likely consequences of those physical shifts will be for biological communities, meaning the results should help managers think through ecological tradeoffs and vulnerabilities as the UMRS changes.

Administratively, this announcement is issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, which is designed to support research, technical assistance, and education through partnerships. Eligibility is restricted: applicants must be participating partners of the Great Plains CESU. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies substantial involvement by the federal agency during the project (for example, collaboration on methods, data integration, and deliverables), rather than a more hands-off grant structure.

The opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number G24AS00382, with an activity category of Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and is associated with CFDA number 15.808. The posted award ceiling is $247,403. The opportunity was created on 2024-06-05 and listed an original closing date of 2024-07-15.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-06-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-07-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $247,403.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G24AS00382

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