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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the funding opportunity number for this grant?

The Funding Opportunity Number is 09HQPA0064.

Which federal agency is offering this opportunity?

This opportunity is offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

What type of award is being offered?

The announcement describes this as a Cooperative Agreement offered through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program.

Which CESU is associated with this opportunity?

The opportunity is issued through the South Florida Caribbean CESU.

What is the main purpose of the project?

The purpose is to support science and technology research and development to improve and expand an existing Everglades small-fish model called GEFISH and apply it to scenario testing.

What is GEFISH in the context of this opportunity?

GEFISH is an Everglades small-fish model. The first version already represents a lower-trophic-level food web and the fish functional groups that depend on it.

What does it mean that the model is "spatially explicit"?

It means the model represents different parts of a typical Everglades landscape rather than treating the system as one uniform area.

How does the model handle water levels and seasonality?

The model explicitly incorporates the seasonal rise and fall of water levels, which strongly shape marsh ecology. The project also plans to run many variations of seasonal water patterns to examine how hydrologic timing and magnitude affect outcomes.

What kinds of management or ecological questions will the updated model address?

The updated work will use GEFISH to explore how changes in landscape features, predator access, and hydrology affect small fish communities and the broader food web.

What are the three major scenario classes described in the announcement?

The announcement identifies three scenario classes: (1) a marsh landscape bordered by a canal with piscivorous fish, varying predator carrying capacity; (2) introduction of a new piscivorous fish that can move from canal into the marsh, including shallow areas; and (3) introduction of spreader swales that can act as dry-period refuges for small fish while potentially expanding habitat for piscivorous fish.

In the canal-bordering scenario, what is being varied and why?

The simulations vary the carrying capacity of piscivorous predators in the canal to evaluate how different predator population potentials influence marsh food-web outcomes.

What is the key change in the scenario involving a new piscivorous fish?

The new piscivorous fish is modeled as being able to move from the canal into the marsh, including into relatively shallow areas, expanding the spatial footprint and intensity of predation pressure across the landscape.

What are spreader swales and why are they important in this project?

Spreader swales are landscape features that can provide permanent water refuges for small fish during dry periods. The project also recognizes a tradeoff: spreader swales may expand suitable habitat for piscivorous fish, and the work aims to quantify the net effects.

How does the project treat hydrology across the scenarios?

Across all three scenario classes, the project runs many variations of seasonal water patterns to understand how hydrologic timing and magnitude interact with landscape configuration and predator dynamics.

What major technical expansion is being added to the model?

The project adds mercury dynamics to the model so it can track mercury concentrations through time in each biotic component represented.

Does the existing model include any nutrient or limiting factor already?

Yes. The existing GEFISH framework includes a limiting nutrient, phosphorus. This effort adds mercury alongside that existing structure.

How will mercury be represented in the modeling approach described?

The model will track mercury concentrations through time in each biotic component (for example, lower trophic organisms and fish groups), with an emphasis on seasonal changes at fine temporal resolution.

What time steps and time horizons are mentioned for the mercury and food-web simulations?

The announcement describes following mercury changes across an annual cycle using daily time steps, while also running longer simulations on decade-scale horizons to evaluate longer-term trajectories and cumulative effects.

What is the practical goal of combining hydrology, food-web dynamics, predation, and mercury in one model?

The goal is to connect hydrology, food-web structure, predation pathways, and contaminant bioaccumulation patterns in a single scenario-testing tool that can be used to evaluate management-relevant changes in Everglades landscapes and water regimes.

When was the opportunity posted?

The opportunity was posted on August 5, 2009.

What is the estimated total funding amount?

The estimated total funding amount is $23,000.

How many awards are expected?

The expected number of awards is one.

Is cost sharing or matching required?

No. The announcement states there is no cost sharing or matching requirement.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is restricted to participating partners in the South Florida Caribbean CESU Program, because the award is issued under the CESU partnership framework.

What is the CFDA number and program alignment noted in the announcement?

The funding activity aligns with CFDA 15.808, described as USGS Research and Data Collection.

Whom should applicants contact if they have issues accessing the full announcement?

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