Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, North West Alaska CESU | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is the name of this grant opportunity?

This opportunity is the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), North West Alaska CESU grant opportunity.

2) What is the Funding Opportunity Number?

The Funding Opportunity Number is 10HQPA0076.

3) Which agency is offering this funding opportunity?

The funding announcement is from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specifically the USGS Alaska Science Center.

4) What is the main purpose of the project described in the announcement?

The project is aimed at supporting research on how climate change may reshape wildfire patterns and vegetation across Alaska's boreal-arctic transition zone, and what those landscape changes could mean for future breeding locations of migratory birds.

5) What geographic region is the research focused on?

The simulation domain is broadly defined as northern Alaska north of the Yukon River to the northern foothills of the Brooks Range, spanning from the Seward Peninsula eastward to the Alaska-Canada border.

6) Why is the boreal-arctic transition zone important in this research?

The transition area between boreal forest and arctic tundra is expected to be among the fastest-changing regions as temperatures warm, moisture regimes shift, and disturbances like wildfire become more common and intense. It also provides continentally important breeding grounds for northern bird communities.

7) What are the key environmental drivers being studied?

The announcement emphasizes the combined effects of climate, wildfire, and woody vegetation change. It highlights interactions among warming temperatures, changing precipitation/moisture regimes, increased wildfire frequency and extent, and shifts in woody vegetation such as shrub expansion and potential forest boundary movement.

8) How does wildfire factor into the research?

Wildfire is described as the dominant disturbance process in the boreal forest. Post-fire succession is presented as a key driver of how plant communities reorganize over time. Because wildfire alters mature forest structure and early successional vegetation patterns, changes in fire regimes are framed as a major mechanism by which climate change can reorganize bird habitat.

9) What vegetation changes are expected under climate change, according to the announcement?

Two parallel trends are expected to interact: (1) increases in the frequency and extent of wildland fire, and (2) movement of tree species range limits farther north or to higher elevations. Shrubs are expected to respond even faster than forests, with increases in shrub distribution, density, and height driven by warming and related factors such as permafrost thaw, altered snow conditions, tundra fire, and feedbacks that favor shrub growth.

10) Why are shrubs highlighted in the opportunity description?

Shrubs are expected to change quickly in response to warming and other environmental shifts. The announcement specifically notes expected increases in shrub distribution, density, and height, and frames shrub change as an important part of the broader woody vegetation response that can affect habitat structure for breeding birds.

11) How does the opportunity connect vegetation change to migratory bird breeding habitat?

The core idea is that breeding birds select habitat heavily based on vegetation structure and composition. As climate and fire drive changes in successional stage and the geographic limits of key vegetation types, those shifts can cascade into changes in breeding habitat suitability and the future breeding distributions of migratory birds.

12) What habitat features are described as the strongest predictors of bird occurrence?

The opportunity identifies the presence of water and the height of woody vegetation as the strongest predictors of bird occurrence in arctic and boreal breeding areas.

13) What habitat factors are described as having more moderate effects on bird occurrence?

The announcement lists habitat patchiness, woody plant density, and whether vegetation is coniferous or deciduous as having more moderate effects compared to water presence and woody vegetation height.

14) What kind of modeling approach is proposed?

The project described is built around applying downscaled climate scenarios to landscape simulations across a large portion of northern Alaska, projecting conditions through the end of the century.

15) What resolution is specified for the landscape modeling?

Landscape modeling is to be conducted at a 1 km by 1 km resolution.

16) What interactions should the models simulate?

Models are intended to simulate interactions among climate, fire, and woody vegetation, while accounting for landscape characteristics and successional processes.

17) What are the model outputs intended to be used for?

Outputs from the simulations would be used to evaluate how projected habitat changes might influence future breeding distributions of a selected suite of migratory bird species across the transition zone.

18) How far into the future are projections expected to run?

The announcement describes projecting conditions through the end of the century.

19) What is the management motivation behind the research?

The opportunity is positioned as decision-relevant because climate change is already affecting where plants and animals occur, especially at range edges, and Alaska has documented northward shifts in the breeding distributions of several bird species. The ecological mechanisms driving these shifts are still not well understood, limiting resource managers' ability to plan. The project is intended to provide practical projections to support adaptive management, including planning for changing wildfire dynamics and anticipating changes in migratory bird distribution, abundance, and biodiversity.

20) What type of award mechanism is used for this opportunity?

This was a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism under the CESU Program.

21) What is the CESU Program intended to support?

The CESU Program is designed to support partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education.

22) How many awards were anticipated?

The announcement anticipated a single award.

23) What was the estimated total funding amount?

The estimated total funding amount was $99,500.

24) Is cost sharing or matching required?

No. The announcement stated there was no cost-sharing or matching requirement.

25) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility was limited to organizations that are participating partners in the North West Alaska CESU.

26) What is the CFDA listing associated with this program?

The CFDA listing associated with the program was 15.808 (U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection).

27) When was this opportunity posted and created?

It was posted June 15, 2010, and created June 16, 2010.

28) What were the closing dates for the opportunity?

The opportunity originally closed June 24, 2010, and was later extended to a current closing date of July 19, 2010.

29) What was the archive date?

The archive date was August 18, 2010.

30) Who is the listed contact for access issues?

The listed contact for access issues was Faith Graves, Contract Specialist, at 703-648-7356.