Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G22AS00397

Opportunity Information: Apply for G22AS00397

This opportunity is a USGS-funded cooperative agreement (Funding Opportunity Number G22AS00397) offered through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, specifically the Colorado Plateau CESU. The USGS Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC) is seeking a CESU-affiliated partner to carry out research that helps land and resource managers make better decisions in dryland ecosystems under increasing drought stress. In practical terms, the project is aimed at improving how agencies restore and manage arid and semi-arid landscapes in the western United States as climate change and other disturbances continue to reshape vegetation and ecosystem function.

The core problem the grant is trying to address is that dryland restoration, especially restoration that depends on seeding, often fails because seeds do not reliably germinate and establish under the highly variable and frequently dry conditions typical of these regions. Federal agencies are investing in restoration at very large scales, and seeding treatments have been applied across more than 6 million hectares in recent decades. As restoration footprints and costs rise, the consequences of unsuccessful seeding become more serious, both financially and ecologically. The opportunity frames this as one of the major ecological challenges of the 21st century: figuring out how to slow, halt, or reverse undesirable ecosystem transformations in drylands when the climate is trending hotter and drier and disturbances are intensifying.

The work supported by the agreement centers on two linked scientific objectives. First, the selected partner will synthesize existing knowledge on regeneration requirements for high-priority focal plant species, with a specific emphasis on the seed life stages that typically determine success or failure in restoration efforts: germination and early establishment. This is essentially a structured, decision-relevant review of what is known about what these plants need to successfully emerge and survive after seeding, such as moisture and temperature thresholds, timing requirements, and other conditions that govern recruitment. Second, the project will characterize geographic patterns in establishment potential and evaluate how that potential may shift in the future as climate changes. That includes assessing where and how often establishment from seed is likely to succeed (for example, the frequency of years or seasons that provide suitable conditions) and how those probabilities may move across the landscape under projected future climate conditions. The intent is to translate climate and ecological variability into actionable expectations about restoration feasibility and risk.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism, which generally indicates substantial involvement and collaboration with the federal scientific staff during the project rather than a more hands-off grant structure. The funding activity falls under Science and Technology and other Research and Development, with CFDA number 15.808. Eligibility is limited to applicants that are official participating partners in the Colorado Plateau CESU network, reflecting the CESU program purpose of supporting research, technical assistance, and education through established partnerships.

Key published details include an award ceiling of $391,897 and an original application closing date of August 18, 2022, with the opportunity created on June 17, 2022. The listing does not specify the number of expected awards in the provided text, but it clearly positions the effort as a focused, partner-led research and synthesis project designed to produce management-relevant guidance for restoring dryland plant communities in an era of increasing drought and climate-driven ecosystem change.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" 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 2022-06-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-08-18. (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 $391,897.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G22AS00397

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