Grants / Department of the Interior / Geological Survey

G24AS00424: Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

Closed Closed August 30, 2024 Opportunity G24AS00424 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Alaska Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (G27AS00066). Status: Closes December 7, 2026 (30 days left). It is in our archive of Geological Survey notices from 2024.

• Award ceiling$100,000
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

This financial assistance opportunity is being issued under a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program. CESU’s are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education. Eligible recipients must be a participating partner of the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection awards averaged $557,251; this notice allows up to $100,000 per award.
• Most of the program's money (84% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner to support a study of grassland bird communities under a changing climate. Over the last half-century, populations of grassland birds declined by more than any other bird group in North America. This is because native grasslands have largely been converted to agricultural row crops, and the remaining prairies have become degraded through altered fire regimes, woody encroachment, the spread of invasive plants, and human development. Land managers and conservation organizations are racing to preserve and restore these ecosystems to stem further loss of grassland birds. Given limited resources, bird habitat models are needed to help managers prioritize where conservation efforts will be most effective. In addition to habitat loss and degradation of native grasslands, increasing greenhouse gas emissions will likely change temperatures and rainfall patterns across the Great Plains. This changing climate is expected to alter vegetation communities and the bird species that depend on them. To date, predictions of bird response to a changing climate have focused on changes in temperature and precipitation, but vegetation productivity also depends on factors such as vegetation type and soils. By studying how vegetation influences grassland birds across the western Great Plains, we are creating maps of projected bird distribution, given vegetation and land-use change under multiple future climate scenarios. Predictive bird distribution maps will help land managers and other decision-makers understand how their site-level projects fit within regional and climatic contexts. A web-based application and raining modules accompanying these maps will increase capacity among Federal, State, Tribal, and private partners in their conservation planning under a changing climate.

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, G27AS00066, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.