Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Rivers CESU | G20AS00109

Opportunity Information: Apply for G20AS00109

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), within the Department of the Interior, released a discretionary research funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Rivers CESU" (Funding Opportunity Number G20AS00109). The award is structured as a cooperative agreement, meaning the work is expected to be carried out in close coordination with USGS staff rather than as a hands-off grant. The opportunity was created on June 30, 2020, with an original application deadline of August 1, 2020. USGS anticipated making a single award, with a maximum funding level (award ceiling) of $66,368, under CFDA 15.808, within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category.

Eligibility is limited to partners within the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) network, specifically those aligned with the Great Rivers CESU. In practice, this means the competition is not broadly open to the general public; it is intended for qualified CESU member institutions and organizations identified by the program as eligible partners, with the official eligibility details referenced in the opportunity's additional information section.

The project focus is on floodplain forest ecology along the Upper Mississippi River, with a particular emphasis on how large, infrequent flood disturbance events affect tree survival and the longer-term dynamics of forest communities. USGS highlights that predicting floodplain forest succession is challenging because these ecosystems are shaped heavily by disturbance regimes that can be highly variable and difficult to forecast. Flooding is identified as the dominant disturbance in floodplains, capable of driving sharp differences in forest composition across very small elevation gradients. The research is aimed at teasing apart how specific flood characteristics, including frequency, duration, intensity, and timing, translate into different survivorship outcomes for trees across species and size classes.

A key scientific premise in the description is that many floodplain tree species can tolerate flooding when it is moderate in frequency and intensity, relatively short in duration, and occurs during dormancy, generally from late summer through early spring. Mortality risks rise as floods become more frequent, more intense, or longer-lasting, and when flooding occurs during the growing season. Smaller trees and younger cohorts are described as particularly vulnerable under these stressful flood conditions. At the same time, the opportunity frames large, high-intensity floods as a natural part of floodplain systems that can play an important ecological role, shaping species distributions, influencing successional pathways, and enabling the recruitment of new cohorts that sustain forest cover over large landscapes.

The 2019 flood event in the Upper Mississippi River System is presented as the central motivation and natural experiment driving this work. Because it was a large-scale disturbance, it offers a timely chance to evaluate how variations in flood attributes across locations translate into differences in tree survivorship and subsequent shifts in floodplain forest community structure. In summary, the grant supports targeted post-disturbance research intended to improve understanding of flood-driven mortality patterns and the resulting trajectory of floodplain forest communities, with the broader goal of strengthening predictions about succession and long-term forest sustainability in the Upper Mississippi River floodplain.

• The Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Rivers CESU" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 30, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 01, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $66,368.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for G20AS00109

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