Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Basin CESU | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the funding opportunity?

This is the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), Great Basin CESU funding opportunity with Opportunity Number G16AS00011. It is a US Geological Survey (USGS) discretionary research solicitation under the Department of the Interior (DOI).

What type of award will be made?

The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement. This means USGS anticipates substantial involvement in the work rather than providing a hands-off grant.

Which federal agency is offering the opportunity?

The opportunity is offered by the US Geological Survey (USGS), which is part of the Department of the Interior (DOI).

What is the program or activity area for this solicitation?

The program sits within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity area and is identified as CFDA 15.808 in the notice.

Who is eligible to apply?

The opportunity is intended for an eligible CESU partner organization, as described in the opportunity's eligibility notes.

How many awards does USGS expect to make?

USGS expected to make one award.

What was the application closing date?

The application closing date for this specific posting was December 2, 2015. The original and current closing dates match.

Is there a stated maximum award amount (ceiling)?

No. The notice does not state a fixed award ceiling in the summary fields provided.

What species and population is the project focused on?

The project focuses on black brant in the eastern Pacific Flyway and addresses questions about population ecology and migration flyways.

What is the main research question USGS is asking applicants to address?

USGS is seeking research that tests whether the primary geographic source of brant production (the breeding areas contributing most to population-wide recruitment) has shifted over time, and if it has shifted, to identify the mechanisms driving that change.

What problem or mismatch is motivating this research?

The opportunity is motivated by a reported mismatch between regional nesting trends and overall population trends over roughly the last 25 years: the Pacific Flyway brant population is reported to have increased by about 20 percent, while the number of brant nesting on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) has declined by nearly 25 percent over the same period.

Why is the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) important in this solicitation?

Historically, the YKD in southwestern Alaska has been viewed as the principal breeding area for eastern Pacific Flyway black brant and has been treated as the main breeding hub for this population.

What other breeding areas are mentioned besides the YKD?

The notice describes secondary breeding distribution in Arctic coastal areas of Alaska, northwestern Canada, and northeastern Russia.

What hypothesis is being considered about changes in brant production?

One plausible explanation highlighted is that productivity (recruitment) may have shifted from the YKD to Arctic nesting areas, potentially allowing the overall flyway population to grow despite declines in YKD nesting.

Does the notice say there is strong evidence that production has already shifted to the Arctic?

No. The opportunity highlights that there is not yet strong supporting evidence showing that productivity has shifted from the YKD to Arctic nesting areas.

What does USGS want the research to determine in practical terms?

The work is meant to determine whether increased nesting in the Arctic has led to greater overall production that could compensate for reduced output from the YKD, and to move beyond correlation by identifying the biological or environmental processes that would explain a sustained increase in Arctic nesting and productivity.

What are the key deliverables implied by the notice?

The implied deliverable is twofold: (1) a defensible assessment of whether the geographic origin of recruitment has changed (for example, from YKD-dominated production toward Arctic-dominated production or another rebalancing), and (2) a mechanistic explanation for any detected shift.

What kinds of mechanisms does the notice suggest could explain a shift in production?

The notice suggests mechanisms such as changes in habitat conditions, predation pressure, climate-related changes affecting nesting success, food resources on breeding grounds, phenology mismatches, or other drivers that could influence where brant choose to nest and how successful those nests are.

Is the research described as basic science or applied research?

Overall, the opportunity is framed as targeted applied research intended to improve understanding of brant population dynamics across the Pacific Flyway by reconciling contrasting trends between the traditional main breeding area (YKD) and Arctic breeding areas.

What geographic scope does the opportunity cover?

The opportunity references the eastern Pacific Flyway and breeding areas spanning southwestern Alaska (YKD) and Arctic coastal regions of Alaska, northwestern Canada, and northeastern Russia.

What does "substantial involvement" by USGS mean in the context of this award?

In this notice, "substantial involvement" is used to distinguish a cooperative agreement from a more hands-off grant. It indicates USGS expects to be actively involved in the work in some capacity rather than only providing funding.

What is the central outcome USGS is trying to improve through this research?

The central outcome is a clearer understanding of brant population dynamics across the Pacific Flyway, specifically by explaining how the flyway-wide population can increase while nesting on the historically principal breeding area (the YKD) declines.