Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Colorado Plateau CESU | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

Funding Opportunity Number G14AS00071, titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Colorado Plateau CESU," is a USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) discretionary grant competition offered as a cooperative agreement under CFDA 15.808 (U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection). It was posted on May 19, 2014, created on June 3, 2014, and ultimately closed on June 13, 2014 (originally set to close May 30, 2014). The opportunity was later archived on August 19, 2014. USGS anticipated making one award, with an estimated total funding amount of $8,812. The notice lists no award ceiling or floor, and it does not require cost sharing or matching.

The program sits within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category and is issued specifically through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) framework. CESUs are collaborative partnerships designed to connect federal agencies with universities and other partners to deliver applied research, technical assistance, and education. Because of that structure, eligibility is limited to organizations that are already participating partners in the Colorado Plateau CESU Program, rather than being open to the general public or all academic institutions. In other words, applicants must be part of the Colorado Plateau CESU network to be considered.

The scientific focus of the award is on understanding the ecological impacts of increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition in the U.S. Southwest, with a particular emphasis on dryland ecosystems and Mesa Verde National Park. The work is to be carried out in coordination with the USGS Canyonlands Research Station (CRS), which is part of the Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC). Nitrogen deposition is a major driver of change in many nutrient-limited landscapes, and in arid and semi-arid systems even relatively modest increases in available nitrogen can ripple through plant communities, soil processes, and biogeochemical cycling. This project is positioned as a targeted research effort to generate practical scientific insight about what those changes could mean for park resources and broader dryland management.

The opportunity lays out three main research objectives. First, it aims to determine how increased nitrogen inputs affect native plant abundance, which speaks to concerns that added nitrogen can shift competitive balances among species, potentially favoring certain plants over others and altering community composition. Second, it seeks to evaluate whether nitrogen deposition changes the invasion success of Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), a highly impactful invasive annual grass in the western United States that is often associated with altered nutrient conditions and strong competitive effects on native vegetation. Third, it calls for considering how nitrogen-driven changes in plant communities, including any increased cheatgrass dominance, could translate into changes in wildfire or fire regime dynamics. This last objective is especially relevant in drylands, where invasive annual grasses can increase fine fuel continuity and load, raising the likelihood of more frequent or more extensive fires that can further disadvantage native species and push ecosystems into difficult-to-reverse states.

Administrative details point applicants to Grants.gov for full announcement materials. The listed agency contact for access issues is Faith Graves (703-648-7356, fgraves@usgs.gov). Overall, this is a small, highly targeted CESU-only cooperative agreement designed to support applied research linking nitrogen deposition to vegetation change, invasive species risk, soil and biogeochemical responses, and potential downstream consequences for fire behavior and ecosystem management in the Colorado Plateau region, with Mesa Verde National Park highlighted as a key area of concern.

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