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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Rocky Mountain CESU bat acoustics grant opportunity?

This is a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) grant opportunity under the Rocky Mountain CESU. It is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) effort managed through the Department of the Interior, specifically through the USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK). The project funds targeted research support to strengthen how bat acoustic monitoring data are analyzed and interpreted, with the goal of producing more reliable, decision-ready outputs for management agencies.

What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FON) for this announcement?

The Funding Opportunity Number is G16AS00112.

Which federal agency and office are associated with this funding?

The funding is associated with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), within the Department of the Interior, and is specifically managed through the USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK).

What type of award is being offered (grant vs. cooperative agreement)?

The award is offered as a cooperative agreement. This indicates an intent for close coordination between the agency and the recipient on technical direction, deliverables, and applying results to real management needs, rather than simply providing funds for an isolated study.

What is the main purpose of the project?

The core purpose is to provide statistical analysis and methodology development for existing bat acoustic data so that monitoring results can be analyzed and interpreted more reliably. The emphasis is on making acoustic monitoring data more credible and useful for decision-making by land and wildlife management agencies.

Why is this work needed now?

The opportunity is driven by two major pressures on bat conservation and management: (1) the rapid spread and impacts of white-nose syndrome, and (2) increased concern about bat mortality and risk at wind energy facilities. These pressures increase the need for monitoring outputs that can credibly inform management priorities and responses over time.

How will the results be used by agencies?

The project is intended to improve monitoring outputs that agencies can use to make decisions such as where to prioritize conservation actions, how to evaluate population trends, and how to plan, evaluate, or adjust management responses across space and time.

How does this opportunity relate to NABat?

The work is situated within the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), which is designed to support coordinated and standardized monitoring of bat populations across North America. This project focuses on improving analytical approaches tied to NABat-style acoustic monitoring data.

What kind of data does NABat rely on for this project?

NABat commonly uses automated acoustic recording devices deployed for multiple nights. These devices generate large volumes of bat call recordings that are processed to infer species presence and to estimate occupancy or distribution patterns over space and time.

Is this opportunity focused on collecting new field data?

No. A notable aspect is that it is not primarily aimed at collecting new field data. The recipient is expected to leverage existing acoustic survey pilot datasets that have already been collected and can be retrieved from direct data sources.

What datasets are expected to be used?

The project expects use of existing acoustic survey pilot datasets. These datasets serve as the empirical foundation for testing, refining, and demonstrating workflows and statistical methods so that the deliverables are grounded in real monitoring conditions.

What are the major analytical challenges this project is trying to address?

The opportunity highlights several well-known challenges in acoustic bat monitoring analysis, including imperfect detection (a species may be present but not detected) and species misidentification (calls may be assigned to the wrong species). If not addressed, these issues can bias occupancy and distribution inferences and reduce the usefulness of monitoring results.

What are the three main deliverable areas described in the opportunity?

The grant calls for practical, defensible analytical guidance in three connected areas:

1. Guidance on the overall workflow for acoustic analyses (from data retrieval and organization through to standardized outputs for modeling).
2. Methodology to explicitly account for species misidentification within an occupancy modeling framework.
3. Method development to properly account for broader uncertainty inherent in acoustic bat data.

What does "workflow guidance" for acoustic analyses include?

The opportunity describes workflow guidance as covering steps such as data retrieval and organization, quality control, call detection, species classification, filtering and validation rules, and standardization of outputs for modeling.

What is an occupancy modeling framework in this context?

Occupancy models are used to estimate the probability that a species is present at a site while recognizing that surveys can miss a species even when it is present (imperfect detection). This opportunity specifically emphasizes extending or adapting occupancy-based inference to also address the complication that detections may sometimes be attributed to the wrong species.

How does the opportunity address species misidentification in acoustic data?

It specifically targets methodology for explicitly accounting for species misidentification within occupancy modeling. The intent is to incorporate the possibility of misclassification (by software or analysts) into models and workflows so results are less biased and more defensible.

What kinds of uncertainty in acoustic bat data are mentioned?

The opportunity notes that uncertainty can arise from variation in call quality, overlapping call characteristics among species, environmental noise, detector placement, sampling effort across nights, and differences among classifiers or analysts.

How many awards were anticipated?

The opportunity anticipated a single award.

What is the maximum funding amount (award ceiling)?

The maximum funding level (award ceiling) is $144,878.

When was the opportunity created and when did it close?

It was created on July 5, 2016, with an original closing date of July 22, 2016.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is limited to CESU partners under the Rocky Mountain CESU framework. The listing indicates "Others" and points to additional eligibility text for clarification, but the stated limitation is to Rocky Mountain CESU partners.

What is the activity category and CFDA number?

The activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development, under CFDA 15.808.

What is the overall goal of the funded work?

The overall goal is to improve the credibility, consistency, and management usefulness of bat acoustic monitoring analyses, particularly by addressing misidentification and uncertainty directly within occupancy-based inference and related analytical workflows.