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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the funding opportunity number for this grant?

The funding opportunity number is G16AS00051.

Which agency is offering this grant opportunity?

This is a US Geological Survey (USGS) research grant issued through the Department of the Interior.

What program or network is this opportunity associated with?

The opportunity is associated with the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), specifically the Great Lakes Northern Forests CESU.

What type of award mechanism is being used?

The award is issued under a cooperative agreement mechanism.

Who is managing the project on the USGS side?

The opportunity is managed by the USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK).

What is the main scientific focus of the project?

The project focuses on improving understanding of long-term changes in American pika distribution across the western United States by dating fecal pellet samples collected from multiple sites.

Why are pika fecal pellets important to this research?

Fecal pellets preserved in talus fields can serve as time-stamped evidence of pika presence. Dating these pellets can help estimate when pikas last occupied specific habitat patches and support reconstruction of how occupancy has shifted over time.

What is the primary technical task supported by the award?

The primary technical task is laboratory analysis of pika fecal pellets using radiocarbon methods to estimate their age (pellet antiquity).

What kind of results are applicants expected to produce from radiocarbon analyses?

Applicants are expected to produce quantitative age estimates for pellet samples and report results as date ranges with 95 percent confidence intervals.

How should uncertainty and error be handled in the radiocarbon results?

The results should explicitly account for analytical measurement error for each radiocarbon determination, with uncertainty clearly documented so the results can be compared across sites and integrated into broader analyses.

Are raw radiocarbon outputs sufficient as deliverables?

No. The deliverables are expected to include interpreted age ranges presented in a statistically defensible way, not only raw radiocarbon outputs.

Besides lab analysis, what other work does the opportunity emphasize?

The opportunity emphasizes synthesis and data integration to understand distributional change, including developing or expanding databases and integrating datasets related to pika habitat range, site occupancy, and pellet ages.

What kinds of databases or datasets are expected as part of the work?

The project calls for developing or expanding databases that combine information on pika habitat range, site occupancy, and pellet ages, and then integrating those datasets to support interpretation of spatial change over time.

Is mapping part of the project deliverables?

Yes. The recipient should prepare maps derived from the pellet-aging results and updated occupancy/range estimates, and compare those maps against maps of past pika distribution.

What is the intended outcome of the project?

The intended outcome is a clearer, temporally grounded picture of where pikas used to occur, where they occur now, and how those patterns have shifted or contracted across the landscape in the western United States.

How is this opportunity categorized administratively?

It was listed as a discretionary opportunity in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category.

What CFDA number is associated with this opportunity?

The CFDA number is 15.808.

When was the opportunity posted and created?

The posting and creation dates were April 7, 2016.

What was the application closing date?

The application closing date was April 22, 2016.

What is the maximum funding amount (award ceiling) for this opportunity?

The award ceiling was $6,051.

How many awards were expected to be made?

The opportunity indicated an expectation of a single award.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with additional clarification referenced in the full eligibility text associated with the announcement.

What geographic area does the research address?

The research is aimed at understanding American pika distribution across the western United States, using samples collected from multiple sites.

What ecological question is the pellet dating meant to help answer?

By estimating when pikas last occupied particular habitat patches, the pellet dating helps reconstruct long-term changes in occupancy and distribution across space and time.

What makes the project a targeted collaboration rather than a broad research program?

The description frames it as a small, targeted research collaboration centered on producing reliable radiocarbon-based age estimates for pika pellets and translating those results into integrated datasets and maps to support broader ecological inference about persistence and range shifts.