Opportunity Information: Apply for F14AS00365
Apply for F14AS00365
- The Fish and Wildlife Service in the environment natural resources science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Evaluating the Use of Sandhill Cranes as a Surrogate Species to Achieve Landscape scale Conservation in the Great Plains" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.670 Adaptive Science.
- This funding opportunity was created on Aug 1, 2014 and posted on Aug 1, 2014.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 13, 2014 Please send your SF 424, SF 424a, and SF 424 to Bill Johnson (billjohnson@fws.gov) and Michelle Willcox (michellewillcox@fws.gov) no later than 5 p.m. MDT, August 13, 2014.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $250,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.
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Opportunity Summary:
This grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number F14AS00365) is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) discretionary research grant focused on improving landscape-scale conservation in the Great Plains by studying sandhill cranes as a potential "surrogate species." The work is anchored around Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Bailey County, Texas, and the surrounding Southern High Plains (SHP) landscape, where a large share of the Mid-Continent Population (MCP) of sandhill cranes spends the winter. The refuge Inventory and Monitoring Plan calls for a clearer, science-based understanding of how many cranes the broader landscape can support (carrying capacity), what threats are most important, and what management actions could keep the region sustainable for cranes over the long term.
The core conservation problem behind the grant is that the SHP is both ecologically critical and heavily altered by agriculture. Roughly 82 percent of the MCP winters on the SHP, and most of the distinct breeding affiliations within the MCP spend a majority of their winter there, making the region central to the population's persistence. In this landscape, cranes generally roost on pluvial saline lakes and then forage largely on private agricultural lands, especially where high-energy waste grains (such as sorghum) are available. This creates a strong link between refuge management (maintaining saline lakes and native rangelands) and private-land farming practices (grain availability, cropping patterns, and land conversion). A particularly important detail is that of the 20 pluvial saline lakes on the SHP, only four are held in the public trust; three of those are on Muleshoe NWR and one is on Grulla NWR in New Mexico. Estimates suggest a substantial portion of the entire MCP uses Muleshoe NWR as overwinter habitat, and use appears to have increased since around 2006. Despite that significance, the opportunity notes that the arrangement, connectivity, and availability of key habitats across the refuge and adjacent lands have not been fully assessed, which limits the ability to design effective landscape conservation strategies.
A major scientific output expected from this project is a bioenergetics model for wintering sandhill cranes that explicitly incorporates Muleshoe NWR's role within a changing SHP landscape. Bioenergetics modeling, in this context, means estimating how much energy cranes need over the winter, how much energy they can obtain from available food resources (like waste grains), and how those needs and resources are influenced by habitat distribution, weather, and disturbance. The model is intended to support decisions about what a "sustainable landscape" looks like for cranes, including how much and what configuration of roosting and foraging habitat is needed to maintain healthy overwinter survival and distribution. The grant frames this as increasingly urgent because climate change is expected to make the SHP hotter and drier, with overall decreases in precipitation but more intense precipitation events when they do occur. Those shifts can affect wetlands, saline lake dynamics, cropping practices, and the reliability of food and roost sites, all of which feed back into crane carrying capacity and habitat use.
A second major purpose of the project is to evaluate whether sandhill cranes can function as a surrogate species for broader conservation planning under USFWS Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC). USFWS has promoted SHC as an adaptive, science-driven framework that uses monitoring data, ecological models, and targeted assessment to guide actions toward measurable population outcomes. In 2014, USFWS advanced the use of surrogate species in Landscape Conservation Cooperatives as a way to organize and scale conservation, but a key uncertainty is whether tracking one species (and the population metrics that are realistically monitorable) truly reflects the ecological conditions and conservation needs of other species and community processes. This project is expected to test that idea by identifying which other sensitive species and habitat values might be captured by crane-focused landscape metrics, and by proposing a practical mechanism for using crane information to inform management for a wider set of species. The opportunity also emphasizes that mapping and identifying crane-suitable landscapes should have spillover benefits because it highlights habitat types and spatial arrangements important to many species, including Conservation Reserve Program lands, agricultural fields, playa wetlands, and saline lake systems.
From an administrative and funding standpoint, the notice is described as a "Notice of Intent to Award Single Source," meaning the agency anticipated making one award through a non-competitive or limited-competition approach. The expected number of awards is one, with an estimated total funding amount of $250,000. The award ceiling is $250,000 and the award floor is $136,448. There is no cost-sharing or matching requirement listed. The eligible applicants are public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, signaling that the work is intended for universities or similar public academic entities with research capacity in wildlife ecology, modeling, and landscape conservation planning. The activity category is listed under environment, natural resources, science and technology, and other research and development, consistent with a project that is meant to produce applied decision-support tools rather than only basic research.
Key dates and submission instructions are also spelled out. The opportunity was posted on August 1, 2014, with a closing deadline of August 13, 2014, by 5:00 p.m. MDT. Applicants were instructed to email SF-424 and SF-424A forms (the standard federal application and budget forms; the text repeats SF-424, likely intending SF-424B or additional forms) to Bill Johnson (billjohnson@fws.gov) and Michelle Willcox (michellewillcox@fws.gov). The CFDA number associated with the program is 15.670, Adaptive Science. For questions or access issues, the contact listed is Michelle L. Willcox, Grants Specialist, at 505-248-7486 and michellewillcox@fws.gov, with Grants.gov provided as the additional information link. Overall, the opportunity is aimed at producing a defensible scientific basis for refuge and regional management decisions, improving long-term planning under climate and land-use change, and testing whether a high-profile, highly monitorable species like the sandhill crane can reliably guide broader landscape conservation across the Great Plains.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the funding opportunity number for this grant?
The Funding Opportunity Number is F14AS00365.
Which federal agency is offering this grant?
This is a discretionary research grant offered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
What is the main goal of this grant opportunity?
The main goal is to improve landscape-scale conservation in the Great Plains by studying wintering sandhill cranes on the Southern High Plains (SHP), anchored around Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and producing decision-support science for long-term management.
Where is the project focused geographically?
The work is anchored around Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge in Bailey County, Texas, and the surrounding Southern High Plains landscape. The opportunity also references nearby Grulla NWR in New Mexico in relation to public-trust saline lakes.
Why are sandhill cranes central to this project?
The opportunity notes that the Southern High Plains is a critical wintering area for the Mid-Continent Population (MCP) of sandhill cranes, with roughly 82 percent of the MCP wintering on the SHP. The region is described as central to the population's persistence.
What conservation problem is the grant trying to address?
The grant is intended to address the challenge of sustaining wintering sandhill cranes in a landscape that is ecologically important but heavily altered by agriculture. It highlights the need for a science-based understanding of crane carrying capacity, key threats, and management actions that could keep the region sustainable over the long term.
What does the refuge Inventory and Monitoring Plan say is needed?
According to the opportunity, the plan calls for a clearer, science-based understanding of (1) how many cranes the broader landscape can support (carrying capacity), (2) which threats are most important, and (3) what management actions could sustain the region for cranes long term.
What is meant by "carrying capacity" in this grant?
In this context, carrying capacity refers to how many sandhill cranes the broader Southern High Plains landscape can support during winter, given available roosting habitat, foraging resources, and changing conditions such as land use and climate.
What habitats do wintering cranes use in the Southern High Plains?
The opportunity describes cranes as generally roosting on pluvial saline lakes and foraging largely on private agricultural lands, particularly where high-energy waste grains (such as sorghum) are available.
Why does this opportunity emphasize private agricultural lands?
Because cranes forage largely on private agricultural lands for waste grains, crane winter ecology is strongly linked to farming practices such as grain availability, cropping patterns, and land conversion. The opportunity frames this as a key link between refuge management and private-land practices.
What is the significance of pluvial saline lakes in the Southern High Plains?
The opportunity identifies pluvial saline lakes as primary roosting habitat for cranes. It also notes that out of 20 pluvial saline lakes on the SHP, only four are held in the public trust, making publicly managed roosting habitats relatively limited.
How many pluvial saline lakes are held in the public trust, and where are they?
The opportunity states that only four of the 20 pluvial saline lakes on the Southern High Plains are held in the public trust: three are on Muleshoe NWR and one is on Grulla NWR in New Mexico.
What role does Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge play for wintering cranes?
The opportunity indicates that a substantial portion of the Mid-Continent Population uses Muleshoe NWR as overwinter habitat and that use appears to have increased since around 2006.
What key information gap does the grant identify?
The opportunity states that the arrangement, connectivity, and availability of key habitats across Muleshoe NWR and adjacent lands have not been fully assessed, limiting the ability to design effective landscape conservation strategies.
What major scientific product is expected from this project?
A major expected output is a bioenergetics model for wintering sandhill cranes that explicitly incorporates Muleshoe NWR's role within a changing Southern High Plains landscape.
What is a bioenergetics model in the context of this grant?
In this opportunity, bioenergetics modeling is described as estimating how much energy cranes need over the winter, how much energy they can obtain from available food resources (such as waste grains), and how those needs and resources are influenced by habitat distribution, weather, and disturbance.
How will the bioenergetics model be used?
The model is intended to support decisions about what a "sustainable landscape" looks like for cranes, including how much roosting and foraging habitat is needed and how those habitats should be configured to maintain healthy overwinter survival and distribution.
How does climate change factor into this grant opportunity?
The opportunity describes the work as increasingly urgent because climate change is expected to make the Southern High Plains hotter and drier, with overall decreases in precipitation but more intense precipitation events. These shifts may affect wetlands, saline lake dynamics, cropping practices, and the reliability of food and roost sites, which can influence crane carrying capacity and habitat use.
What does the opportunity mean by a "surrogate species"?
The opportunity uses "surrogate species" to refer to a species (here, sandhill cranes) whose status, habitat needs, and monitorable metrics might be used to guide broader conservation planning and management for other species and ecological values across a landscape.
What is the second major purpose of this project besides bioenergetics modeling?
A second major purpose is to evaluate whether sandhill cranes can function as a surrogate species for broader conservation planning under USFWS Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC).
What is Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC) as described in the opportunity?
The opportunity describes SHC as an adaptive, science-driven framework that uses monitoring data, ecological models, and targeted assessment to guide actions toward measurable population outcomes.
What uncertainty about surrogate species does this project aim to test?
The opportunity highlights a key uncertainty: whether tracking one species (and the population metrics that are realistically monitorable) truly reflects ecological conditions and conservation needs of other species and community processes. The project is expected to test that idea.
What other habitats and values might benefit from crane-focused mapping?
The opportunity suggests that mapping crane-suitable landscapes may have spillover benefits by highlighting habitat types and spatial arrangements important to many species, including Conservation Reserve Program lands, agricultural fields, playa wetlands, and saline lake systems.
Is this a competitive grant opportunity?
The notice is described as a "Notice of Intent to Award Single Source," indicating the agency anticipated making one award through a non-competitive or limited-competition approach.
How many awards does the agency expect to make?
The expected number of awards is one.
What is the estimated total funding amount for this opportunity?
The estimated total funding amount is $250,000.
What are the award ceiling and award floor?
The award ceiling is $250,000, and the award floor is $136,448.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No cost-sharing or matching requirement is listed in the opportunity.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligible applicants are public and state-controlled institutions of higher education.
What types of activities does this grant fall under?
The activity category is listed under environment, natural resources, science and technology, and other research and development, reflecting applied research intended to produce decision-support tools.
What is the CFDA number associated with this program?
The CFDA number is 15.670, Adaptive Science.
When was the opportunity posted, and what was the deadline?
The opportunity was posted on August 1, 2014, and the closing deadline was August 13, 2014, by 5:00 p.m. MDT.
How were applications supposed to be submitted?
Applicants were instructed to email SF-424 and SF-424A forms to Bill Johnson (billjohnson@fws.gov) and Michelle Willcox (michellewillcox@fws.gov). The text repeats SF-424, likely intending additional standard forms, but only SF-424 and SF-424A are explicitly named.
Which application forms are referenced in the opportunity?
The opportunity references the SF-424 and SF-424A forms (standard federal application and budget forms). It also includes a repeated reference to SF-424 in the submission instructions.
Who are the listed points of contact for submission?
The submission instructions list Bill Johnson (billjohnson@fws.gov) and Michelle Willcox (michellewillcox@fws.gov) as email recipients for the application forms.
Who can be contacted with questions about the opportunity?
The opportunity lists Michelle L. Willcox, Grants Specialist, as the contact for questions or access issues at 505-248-7486 and michellewillcox@fws.gov.
Where does the opportunity point applicants for additional information?
Grants.gov is provided as the additional information link.
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