Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forests CESU | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), through its Great Lakes Science Center, announced a discretionary funding opportunity under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forests CESU" (Funding Opportunity Number G15AS00091). The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial involvement by the federal agency during the project, such as collaboration on study design, data interpretation, or coordination with ongoing monitoring programs. The activity falls within science and technology and other research and development, and it is tied to CFDA 15.808 (USGS Research and Data Collection). The opportunity anticipated making a single award, with an estimated total funding amount of $223,375, and it stated no cost-sharing or matching requirement.

The core purpose of the project is an "Assessment and Synthesis of Riverine Habitat Restoration in the St. Clair - Detroit Rivers System" (often abbreviated as the SCDRS), a critical connecting-channel complex linking Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie. The work is framed as an evaluation of how well habitat restoration actions in these riverine corridors are performing, with an emphasis on generating practical insight into the efficacy of restoration investments. Rather than focusing only on short-term site-level observations, the project is designed to leverage existing samples and long-term scientific monitoring datasets, using innovative statistical and biological approaches to integrate and synthesize information over time and across locations. In effect, it is meant to turn years of monitoring and sampling into clearer conclusions about what restoration has achieved and what ecological signals are emerging in response.

Scientifically, the project is oriented around characterizing aquatic communities and their dynamics in a way that directly informs fish and habitat management. The announcement highlights several specific types of analyses and outputs: quantifying aquatic community composition (what species are present and in what mix), documenting species succession (how the community changes through time as habitats recover or shift), and estimating abundance and distribution (how many organisms are there and where they are concentrated). It also calls out trophic pathways, including larval fish diets, which points to food-web level questions such as what young fish are eating, whether restored habitats are supporting appropriate prey communities, and how energy moves through the system. By combining community metrics with trophic information, the effort aims to describe not just whether organisms are present, but whether the restored areas are functioning ecologically in ways that support recruitment, growth, and survival of fish populations.

From a management perspective, the deliverable value is positioned around improving understanding of ecological interactions within the St. Clair - Detroit Rivers System and western Lake Erie. These waters are ecologically and economically important, and they are also influenced by multiple stressors and restoration initiatives. The synthesis is intended to help resource managers and restoration practitioners identify which habitat actions are most associated with desired biological responses, where gaps in performance or knowledge remain, and how fish populations and habitat conditions are linked across the connecting channels and downstream into Lake Erie. The findings are explicitly intended to guide future management and restoration decisions for fish populations and their habitats within the study areas, which implies a strong applied component and an expectation that results will be actionable for agencies and partners working in these systems.

Eligibility is restricted to organizations that are already participating partners in the Great Lakes Northern Forests CESU Program. CESUs are structured partnerships designed to streamline and strengthen collaboration among federal agencies, universities, and other research organizations by providing a framework for research, technical assistance, and education. In practical terms, this means applicants outside the CESU partnership would not be eligible unless they were part of the designated CESU network for this region.

Key timing and administrative details included a posted date of June 29, 2015, with both the original and current closing date listed as July 17, 2015, and an archive date of September 29, 2015. The listing directed applicants to grants.gov for the full announcement. For access issues or assistance, the contact provided was Faith Graves at USGS (703-648-7356; fgraves@usgs.gov).

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