Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Chesapeake Watershed CESU | G20AS00049

Opportunity Information: Apply for G20AS00049

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), within the Department of the Interior, released a discretionary research funding opportunity under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) network focused on the Chesapeake Watershed. The project centers on "marsh migration into rapidly retreating coastal forests," a process driven by sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion along the U.S. coastal plain. As saltwater moves inland, areas that were previously upland or forested can transition into tidal wetlands. This conversion has major downsides for terrestrial resources, including forest die-off and the loss or abandonment of agricultural lands, but it is also one of the main ways tidal wetlands may persist as sea levels continue to rise, maintaining important ecosystem services like habitat provision, shoreline protection, and nutrient cycling.

The opportunity is structured as a cooperative agreement, meaning the USGS expects substantial involvement and collaboration during the work rather than acting only as a pass-through funder. It is intended for a CESU partner (eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with clarification expected in the full eligibility text), and it supports science and technology research and development work under CFDA number 15.808. USGS scientists at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC) are positioned as key collaborators, bringing existing expertise and datasets from an ongoing modeling effort examining how tidal saline wetlands respond to sea-level rise. The new funded work is meant to build on that foundation by pairing empirical field observations with modeling approaches, so the resulting science is both data-grounded and predictive.

The research goals are framed around improving understanding of land conversion driven by sea level rise and storms, with three main lines of effort. First, the project aims to produce spatially resolved predictions of marsh migration, which implies mapping and forecasting where wetlands are likely to expand inland and where forest retreat is likely to occur under different conditions. Second, it calls for manipulative experiments, suggesting field or controlled studies that actively test mechanisms behind marsh advance and forest decline, rather than only observing patterns after the fact. Third, it emphasizes numerical model development and testing, indicating that the project should not only apply existing models but also improve them, validate them against field data, and assess how well they capture the processes that drive wetland evolution at the land-water boundary.

Financially, the award ceiling is listed at $360,000, with an expectation of a single award. The funding opportunity number is G20AS00049. The posting date was April 6, 2020, and the original closing date was April 30, 2020. Overall, the project is positioned to strengthen USGS work on coastal vulnerability, the evolution of tidal wetlands under climate and sea-level pressure, and the broader health and management of Chesapeake Bay ecosystems by improving the ability to anticipate where wetlands will persist, where they will migrate, and what factors speed up or slow down that transition.

• 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, Chesapeake Watershed 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 Apr 06, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 30, 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 $360,000.00 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 G20AS00049

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