Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Southern Appalachian Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) | G25AS00064

Opportunity Information: Apply for G25AS00064

This funding opportunity is a discretionary cooperative agreement offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) through its National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Center (NRCASC). It is specifically set up under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, meaning it is intended for a partner organization that is already a member of the Southern Appalachian Mountains CESU network. The overall purpose is to support a focused research effort that helps land and wildlife managers understand how oak forests and the wildlife species that depend on them may change under future climate conditions and shifting human influences across the Appalachian portion of the Central Hardwood Forest.

The project being supported is titled "Synthesizing changing oak species distributions, mast availability, and effects on wildlife species under future climate, social, and land-use change." In practical terms, the work centers on oak presence and regeneration (whether oak seedlings and saplings can successfully replace mature trees over time), and on oak seed production, commonly called mast. Because mast is a major seasonal food resource for many wildlife species, the opportunity emphasizes not only where oaks may persist or decline, but also how changes in mast productivity could ripple through wildlife populations and broader ecosystem dynamics.

A core deliverable is a research product that synthesizes and identifies the major drivers shaping oak outcomes, with an explicit focus on three categories of influences: climate factors (such as temperature and precipitation shifts and related stressors), land-use factors (including changes in forest cover, fragmentation, development, and management), and social factors (human decisions and behaviors that affect forest conditions and management priorities). The intent is to move beyond a single-driver explanation and instead clarify how multiple pressures interact to influence oak distribution, successful regeneration, and seed availability. The results are expected to improve understanding of how future scenarios may alter resource availability in oak-dependent ecosystems.

The award recipient is expected to work collaboratively with USGS, which is a defining feature of a cooperative agreement compared with a more hands-off grant. This collaboration is meant to advance the science of climate change ecology and land-use science, and to strengthen modeling approaches that estimate or project resource availability, particularly mast, under different future conditions. The opportunity is positioned to support actionable science, meaning outputs should be useful for anticipating change and informing adaptation planning for forest and wildlife management in the region.

From the posted opportunity details, the funding opportunity number is G25AS00064 and the assistance listing is under CFDA 15.808. The anticipated maximum federal funding amount (award ceiling) is $260,380. The opportunity was created on 2024-11-04, and the original closing date for applications is 2024-12-04. The eligible applicant category is listed as "Others," but eligibility is constrained by the CESU requirement: applicants must be participating partners of the Southern Appalachian CESU network. The sponsoring agency is the Geological Survey (USGS), and the activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

• 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 Southern Appalachian Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (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 2024-11-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-12-04. (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 $260,380.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G25AS00064

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: