Grantee Research Project Results
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Center for Environmental Research
Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program
CLOSED - FOR REFERENCES PURPOSES ONLY
Ecological Impacts from the Interactions of Climate Change, Land Use Change and Invasive Species: A Joint Research Solicitation - EPA, USDA
This is the initial announcement of this funding opportunity.
Funding Opportunity Number:
- EPA-G2007-STAR-H1 Aquatic Ecosystems
- EPA-G2007-STAR-H2 Terrestrial Ecosystems
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: EPA: 66.509; USDA: 10.206
Solicitation Opening Date: March 26, 2007
Solicitation Closing Date: June 26, 2007, 4:00 pm Eastern Time
Eligibility Contact: Tom Barnwell (barnwell.thomas@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9862
Electronic Submissions: Thomas O'Farrell (o'farrell.thomas@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9639
USDA Technical Contact: Nancy Cavallaro (ncavallaro@csrees.usda.gov); phone: 202-401-5176
EPA Technical Contact: Brandon Jones (jones.brandon@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9850
Access Standard STAR Forms and Instructions
Research awarded under previous solicitations
SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Synopsis of Program:
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Research Initiative (NRI) Competitive Grants Program are seeking applications for research on the ecological impacts from interactions of climate change, land use change, and invasive species. An invasive species is an alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health1.
The purpose of this joint solicitation is to quantitatively investigate how climate change, climate variability, and land use change: (1) influence the establishment, abundance and distribution of invasive species; (2) interact with invasive species to create feedbacks that increase their success; (3) interact with invasive species to cause threshold responses in natural and managed systems; or (4) affect the chemical, biological and mechanical management of invasive species. The EPA is interested in proposals addressing aquatic ecosystems and the USDA in proposals addressing managed terrestrial systems, both of which can be used to enhance decision support tools used by decision makers to respond to invasive species.
1 Executive Order 13112; Also from EO 13112, an alien species is, with respect to a particular ecosystem, any species, including its seeds, eggs, spores, or other biological material capable of propagating that species, that is not native to that ecosystem.
Award Information:
Anticipated Type of Award: Grants or cooperative agreements
Estimated Number of Awards and Anticipated Funding Amount:
EPA: Approximately 5 grants or cooperative agreements are anticipated, with an estimated total funding level of approximately $2.5 million.
USDA: Approximately 3 grants or cooperative agreements are anticipated, with an estimated total funding level of approximately $1.4 million.
Potential Funding per Award: Up to a total of $600,000, including direct and indirect costs, with the duration not to exceed 2-4 years for EPA and USDA proposals. Cost-sharing is not required. Proposals with budgets exceeding the total award limits will not be considered.
| Eligibility Criteria and Agency Participation | Research Focus | Research Plan Limit | Funding Limit |
| EPA | Aquatic ecosystems | 15 pages | $600 K |
| USDA | Terrestrial ecosystems | 15 pages | $600 K |
Table 1. A summary of the funding and eligibility criteria for each participating agency’s research focus.
Eligibility Information:
EPA
Public nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes public institutions of higher education and hospitals) and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes private institutions of higher education and hospitals) located in the U.S.; state and local governments; Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments; and U.S. territories or possessions are eligible to apply. See full announcement for more details.
USDA
Except where otherwise prohibited by law, State agricultural experiment stations, all colleges and universities, other research institutions and organizations, Federal agencies, National Laboratories, public and private organizations or corporations, and individuals are eligible to apply for and to receive a competitive grant through the National Research Initiative of Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES).
Application Materials:
All proposals submitted under this joint solicitation must follow the requirements for STAR applications, regardless of whether the proposal addresses EPA’s or USDA’s research interests. You may submit either a paper application or an electronic application (but not both) for this announcement. The necessary forms for submitting a STAR application will be found on the National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) web site, https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms. To apply electronically, you must use the application package available at Grants.gov (see “Submission Instructions for Electronic Applications” in Section IV). If your organization is not currently registered with Grants.gov, you need to allow approximately one week to complete the registration process to apply electronically. This registration, and electronic submission of your application, must be performed by an authorized representative of your organization.
Contact Person(s):
Eligibility Contact: Tom Barnwell (barnwell.thomas@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9862
Electronic Submissions: Thomas O'Farrell (o'farrell.thomas@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9639
USDA Technical Contact: Nancy Cavallaro (ncavallaro@csrees.usda.gov); phone: 202-401-5176
EPA Technical Contact: Brandon Jones (jones.brandon@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9850
I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
A. Introduction
The EPA’s Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Research and the USDA’s Cooperative State Research Education Extension Service (CSREES), National Research Initiative announces a funding competition supporting research on the consequences of global change on invasive species. Per Executive Order 13112, an invasive species is an alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. The purpose of this joint solicitation is to quantitatively investigate how climate change, climate variability, and land use change: (1) influence the establishment, abundance and distribution of invasive species; (2) interact with invasive species to create feedbacks that increase their success; (3) interact with invasive species to cause threshold responses in natural and managed systems; or (4) affect the chemical, biological and mechanical management of invasive species. The EPA is particularly interested in linked aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems and the USDA in managed terrestrial systems.
B. Background
Established by the Global Change Research Act of 1990, the United States Global Change Research Program is a collaborative interagency program designed to enhance the understanding of natural and human-induced global and climate change and provide a sound scientific foundation for national and international decision-making.
Thirteen federal departments and agencies with their respective missions and appropriations conduct and sponsor climate and global change research responsive to the goals of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (USCCSP) which incorporates the USGCRP and the Climate Change Research Initiative. The Strategic Plan for the USCCSP may be found at (http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/stratplan2003/default.htm).
Proposals responding to this solicitation will address goals 3, 4 and 5 of the USCCSP Strategic Plan. In particular, EPA and USDA are seeking proposals that will address the following research questions, as identified in the Ecosystems chapter of the USCCSP Strategic Plan, as they relate to invasive species:
8.1. What are the most important feedbacks between ecological systems and global change (especially climate), and what are their quantitative relationships?
8.2. What are the potential consequences of global change for ecological systems?
8.3. What are the options for sustaining and improving ecological systems and related goods and services, given projected global changes?
Applicants to this program are encouraged to read the overview and goals of the USCCSP Strategic Plan (http://www.climatescience.gov/infosheets/factsheet3/default.htm) as well as its chapter on Changing Ecosystems (http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/ProgramElements/bio.htm).
EPA
The intent of EPA’s Global Change Research Program is to improve society’s ability to respond and adapt to future consequences of global change. This entails: (1) improving the scientific capabilities and basis for projecting and evaluating effects and vulnerabilities of global change; (2) assessing the ecological, human health and socioeconomic risks and opportunities presented by global change; and (3) assessing management and adaptation options to improve society’s ability to effectively respond to the risks and opportunities presented by global change. Investigations of the effects of global change on freshwater and coastal ecosystems and their related ecosystem services in the context of other stressors and human dimensions are a particular focus of EPA’s Global Change Research Program.
The EPA’s Science to Achieve Results Global Change Research Program sponsors targeted research to support these goals. Previous EPA STAR Global Change solicitations and their associated links are provided below:
https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.archive/RFATypeList/G,C01/global01.html.
https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/new/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.rfatext/rfa_id/381.
https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/new/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.rfatext/rfa_id/422.
This solicitation seeks research proposals that use the best available scientific models, experimental methods, and data analyses to elucidate how global change factors interact with invasive species dynamics to create feedbacks to freshwater and coastal ecosystems. The specific global change factors of interest are climate change, climate variability, land use change, and changes in hydrologic regime. Ecosystem feedbacks of particular interest are those that further promote successful biological invasions or trigger a threshold response (state change) in the ecosystem with concomitant loss of ecosystem services.
Applicants are encouraged to develop decision-support resources for stakeholders, such as analytical methods, models, and other tools. Research results should suggest science-based priorities for management of invasive species at regional to local scales in order to protect and sustain the quality of aquatic ecosystems and their services in the face of global change stressors. Proposals that lead either directly or indirectly to management solutions that address an invasive species problem are strongly encouraged.
The specific Strategic Goal and Objective from EPA’s Strategic Plan that relate to this solicitation are: Goal 4: Healthy Communities and Ecosystems, Objective 4.4: Enhance Science and Research.
The EPA’s Strategic Plan can be found at www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/2006/entire_report.pdf (184 pp, 11.6 MB)
Linking with Stakeholders:
EPA Regional Scientists and/or Invasive Species Liaisons may be available to facilitate partnerships between principal investigators and State, Tribal, or local managers and decision makers following grant award.
There is also a public Biological Invasions Researcher Database designed for individuals researching or addressing invasive species to identify potential collaborators. The Biological Invasions Researcher Database can be accessed at http://www.bio.miami.edu/nsfinvdb/add.html.
Finally, information on coordinated programs addressing the prevention and control of aquatic invasive species in a particular geographical region can be found by visiting the federal Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force (ANSTF) website at: http://www.anstaskforce.gov/panels.php. The task force is made up of five Regional Panels whose members represent Federal, state and local organizations.
USDA
USDA’s CSREES participates in this solicitation through the USDA National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program. The purpose of the National Research Initiative Program is to support research grants and integrated research, extension, and education grants that address key problems of national, regional, and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of agriculture (farming, ranching, forestry including urban and agroforestry, aquaculture, rural communities and human health and well-being). The Program supports a spectrum of research that bridges the basic and applied sciences and results in practical outcomes. It encourages multi-disciplinary research, which is needed to solve complex problems, and seeks to initiate research in new areas of science and engineering that are relevant to agriculture, food, forestry, and the environment.
Both mission-linked research and fundamental research are supported by the National Research Initiative Program and both are essential to the sustainability of agriculture. The USDA/CSREES vision is: “Agriculture is a knowledge-based, global enterprise, sustained by the innovation of scientists and educators.”
The National Research Initiative Global Change Research Program is consistent with the USCCSP and contributes to the many goals set forth in USCCSP Strategic Plan (Climate Change Science Program: http://www.climatescience.gov). This RFA is the latest in a series of related funding announcements. Descriptions of previous global change RFAs and research grants resulting from these solicitations can be found on the CSREES website at the following URLs: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/fundview.cfm?fonum=1360, and http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/fundview.cfm?fonum=1076.
For this solicitation, the National Research Initiative Climate Change Program is interested in research applications to establish cause and effect relationships between climate changes and the abundance and distribution of invasive species, and the impact these species have on agroecosystems. Enhanced ability to identify, predict outbreaks of, control and eliminate invasive species would directly (and strongly) support two of the five CSREES strategic goals: i.e., “Enhance protection and safety of the nation’s agriculture and food supply” (goal 3- especially objective 3.2); and “Protect and enhance the nation’s natural; resource based and environment” (goal 5-especially objective 5.1). The CSREES Strategic Plan can be found on the following webpage:
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/fundview.cfm?fonum=1360
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/fundview.cfm?fonum=1076
C. Authority and Regulations
The EPA authority for this RFA and resulting awards is contained in the Clean Water Act, Section 104, 33 U.S.C. § 1254. For research with an international aspect, the above statutes are supplemented, as appropriate, by the National Environmental Policy Act, Section 102 (2)(F).
The USDA authority for this RFA is contained in 7 U.S.C. 450i (b). Under this authority, subject to the availability of funds, the Secretary may award competitive research grants, for periods not to exceed five years, for the support of research projects to further the programs of the USDA.
D. Specific Research Areas of Interest/Expected Outputs and Outcomes
EPA
Invasive species are a pervasive problem nationally and globally in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. They have the potential to cause significant ecological and economic damage. By one estimate, invasive species in the United States cause major environmental damages and losses totaling almost $120 billion per year (Pimentel et al. 2005).
Ecological and environmental changes are known to contribute to the increasing abundance and distribution of invasive species. For example, natural and anthropogenic disturbances generally correlate with increased habitat invasibility (Ashton 2005, Ailstock et al. 2001, Byers 2002, Cohen and Carlton 1998, Tickner et al. 2001, Zedler and Kerchner 2004,). However, the interactive effects of global change factors and feedbacks within the ecosystem are not well established (Dukes and Mooney 1999). Individual factors that have been investigated include increased carbon dioxide and changes in water availability, salinity, and temperature. For example, increased carbon dioxide results in increased productivity, soil moisture, and nitrogen uptake which can create favorable conditions for species invasion (Weltzin et al. 2003); depending on the species and habitat, low water availability may reduce or increase the likelihood of invasion (e.g., Alpert and Holzapfel 2000, Barnes 1999, Lonsdale 1993, Minchinton 2002, Wilcox et al. 2003); decreased salinity in wetland systems could encourage invasion (Minchinton 2002); and greater seasonal water temperature variations correlate with greater invasive species success (Alexander et al. 1994, McFarland and Barko 1999). Stachowitz et al. (2002) have noted that the greatest effects of climate change on biotic communities will likely be through changes in maximum and minimum changes rather than annual means. By giving introduced species an early start and increasing the magnitude of their growth, global warming may facilitate a shift to dominance by invasive species.
Physical as well as biotic processes may be important when examining factors that contribute to feedbacks leading to alternative states (Dent et al. 2002). In New Zealand, de Winton and Clayton (1996) observed that invasive submerged weed species increased sediment accumulation in lakes, thereby burying native seed banks and creating a feedback that produced an alternative state in the system. Such species may be referred to as “transformers,” a subset of invasive species that change the character, condition, form or nature of ecosystems over a substantial area relative to the extent of that ecosystem (Richardson et al. 2000).
Recent research has suggested new management strategies. For example, when considering global change effects on the invasive reed Phragmites australis, Aseda et al. (2003) proposed that managers reintroduce tidal flooding to increase soil salinity. Minchinton (2002) suggested more frequent monitoring of sites where freshwater flows have increased, in order to ensure early detection of Phragmites. Researchers have also suggested that river management practices that maintain or mimic natural stream-flow regimes in southwestern rivers decreases the spread of salt cedar by creating conditions favorable to native riparian tree species (Lite and Stromberg 2005, Shafroth et al. 2002).
This solicitation seeks proposals that extend the field of invasive species research to explicitly include the interaction of multiple global change factors and their effects on linked terrestrial-freshwater and terrestrial-coastal systems. The primary global change factors of interest are climate change, climate variability, and land use change; relevant co-occurring stressors such as changes in hydrologic regime, including engineered water management systems, may also be considered. Ecosystem feedbacks of particular interest are those that further promote successful biological invasions or trigger a threshold response (state change) in the ecosystem with concomitant loss of ecosystem services. EPA is particularly interested in the interactive effects of global change stressors on ecosystem services such as maintenance of surface and groundwater quality and quantity, drinking water quality and quantity, biotic integrity and resilience, and recreational uses of freshwater and coastal systems.
Successful proposals must address how global change factors, as defined for this solicitation, do all of the following:
- affect the establishment, abundance, and distribution of invasive species, including causing nonnative species to become invasive and the mechanisms by which these changes occur;
- interact with invasive species to create feedbacks that further promote successful biological invasions or trigger threshold responses in linked aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems;
- affect current management of invasive species, such that methods and protocols may need to be altered to protect or restore ecosystem services and integrity.
In addition, successful proposals must describe the following:
- Hypothesized relationship between global change factors and invasive species, including a description of how the global change factors to be investigated exacerbate existing patterns of biological invasions;
- Ecosystem services known, or hypothesized, to be impaired by the effects of global change factors and invasive species on the structure and function of the ecosystems selected for study;
- Proposed methods to identify and quantify feedback loops and ecological thresholds;
- Rationale for the study design and its ability to advance the science and management of invasive species dynamics as affected by global change factors.
The most competitive proposals will involve local governments and/or state environmental managers. Successful applicants will direct their communicative efforts toward the appropriate user community, i.e., State, Tribal, or local agency. These efforts shall include, but are not limited to: disseminating research results, identifying potential research products (i.e., decision support tools, intervention strategies/techniques, etc.) and discussing a strategy for coordinating the demonstration of these tools and techniques to these communities.
Methods of interest include techniques such as integrating theory with results of observations or experimental studies; landscape analyses of species invasions and their associations with biophysical characteristics and global change factors within a given geographic area (sensu Marchetti et al. 2004), modeling and statistical analyses to quantify indirect relationships and feedbacks loops (Puccia and Levins 1985, Krivtsov 2002), and methods to investigate nonlinear responses or threshold changes (Scheffer et al. 2001, Peters et al. 2004, Folke et al. 2004). In addition, proposals are sought that suggest novel ways to test model predictions (Marchetti et al. 2004), new prevention and management strategies (Carpenter et al. 1999), and ways to evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies.
Research results should suggest science-based priorities for managing invasive species at regional to local scales. Desired environmental outcomes include improved ecological resilience and sustained quality of ecosystems and their associated services in the face of global change. Examples of desired research outputs are analytical frameworks and predictive models that suggest management strategies for state and local resource officials. Proposals that demonstrate linkages to decision-support tools for resource managers or suggest methods to document measurable progress toward enhanced ecosystem resilience to invasive species are desired. Proposals that lead either directly or indirectly to management solutions to address an invasive species problem are strongly encouraged.
USDA
Among the predictable consequences of global change is the spread of species into new habitats. It has been estimated that approximately 50,000 species of plants and animals have been introduced into the US, a significant fraction of which cause environmental damage and losses adding up to almost $120 billion per year (Pimentel et al. 2000, Pimentel et al. 2005). Non-indigenous weeds alone cost US agriculture somewhere between $7- 27 billion/yr. (Pimentel et al, 2005). Invasive species threaten biodiversity, habitat quality, and ecosystem function. It is estimated that invasive species have contributed to the decline of 42% of the US endangered and threatened species (Schmitz and Simberloff, 1997). Exotic, invasive species are a particularly prevalent feature of agroecosystems, and are a threat to food and fiber production, the economic costs of which sum to billions of dollars each year. There is concern that invasive species may hasten changes in biogeochemical cycles that may be driving changes in global climate; in turn, changes in climate can affect ecological thresholds that determine the local and regional abundance and distribution of invasive species (IPCC, 2001b). Species that make up a community are unlikely to shift their distributions together. It is more likely that species will respond to changing climate and disturbance regimes individually, with substantial time lags and periods of reorganization. This will disrupt the established ecosystems and create new assemblages of species that may be less diverse and include more “weedy” species, specifically those that are highly mobile and can establish quickly.
The USDA Climate Change Program is interested in research that establishes cause and effect relationships between climate changes and the abundance and distribution of invasive species, and the impact these species have on agroecosystems. Specific areas of interest include:
- Interactive effects of climate change, changes in land use and land cover, and the abundance of invasive species;
- Interactive effects of climate change and natural resource utilization and management (cultivation and nutrient management regimes, disturbance, etc.) on the abundance and distribution of invasive species.
The program will consider activities that focus on invasive plant and animal species of economic importance to or that may become of importance to, agriculture. The research proposed should be performed within an agricultural setting emphasizing crop production, managed forests, rangeland, or other wildlands of conservation significance. The research should emphasize the impacts of climate change at the individual organism and population level and consider the impacts of the invasive species in terms of community and ecosystem structure and function. The research should bring about an understanding of the complex multiple pressures on agroecosystems that are dependent on climate change and that are brought about by the invasion of non-native species. This should be assessed within the framework of changing regimes of disturbances, climate variability and the ability to adapt to the rate of land cover change. The research could employ a physiological, bioclimatic, population or community or ecosystem perspective, or some combination. Collaborative teams of land managers, atmospheric scientists, weed biologists, population biologists, ecologists, physiologists, biogeochemists, and wildlife managers or those with expertise in simulation modeling and GIS are encouraged to apply. Use of remote sensing and Earth observing systems such as Aquarius, CloudSat, CALIPSO, OCO, and OSTM is also encouraged.
- Ailstock M. S., C. M. Norman, and P. J. Bushmann. 2001. Common Reed Phragmites australis: Control and Effects upon biodiversity in freshwater nontidal wetlands. Restoration Ecology, 9(1): 49-59.
- Alexander J. E. Jr., J. H. Thorp, and R. D. Fell. 1994. Turbidity and Temperature Effects on Oxygen Consumption in the Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 51:179-184.
- Alpert P., E. Bone, and C. Holzapfel. 2000. Invasiveness, invasibility and the role of environmental stress in the spread of non-native plants. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 3:52-66.
- Aseda T. J. M. T. F. a. D. S. 2005. Effects of Salinity and Cutting on the Development of Phragmites australis. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 11:127-140.
- Ashton, I. W. 2005. Invasive species accelerate decomposition and litter nitrogen loss in a mixed deciduous forest. Ecological Applications 15:1263-1272.
- Barnes W. J. 1999. The rapid growth of a population of reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) and its impact on some river-bottom herbs. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, 126:133-138.
- Byers J. E. 2002. Impact of non-indigenous species on natives enhanced by anthropogenic alteration of selection regimes. Oikos, 97(3):449-458.
- Carpenter, S.R., D. Ludwig, and W. Brock. 1999. Management of lakes subject to potentially irreversible change. Ecological Applications, 9(3): 751-771.
- Cohen, A. N. and J. T. Carlton. 1998. Accelerating Invasion Rate in a Highly Invaded Estuary. Science, 279:555-558.
- Dent, C.L., G.S. Cumming, and S.R. Carpenter. 2002. Multiple states in river and lake ecosystems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 357(1421): 635-645.
- deWinton, M.D. and J.S. Clayton. 1996. The impact of invasive submerged weed species on seed banks in lake sediments. Aquatic Botany, 53:31-45.
- Dukes, J. S., and H. A. Mooney. 1999. Does global change increase the success of biological invaders? Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 14:135-139.
- Folke, C., S. Carpenter, B. Walker, M. Sheffer, T. Elmqvist, L. Gunderson, and C.S. Holling. 2004. Regime shifts, resilience, and biodiversity in ecosystem management. Annual Review in Ecology and Systematics, 35:557-581.
- IPCC. 2001b. A Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In McCarthy, J.J., O.F. Canziani, N.A. Leary, D.J. Dokken, and K.S. White (eds.), Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. 1032 pp. Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, Cambridge University Press.
- Krivtsov V. 2004. Investigations of indirect relationships in ecology and environmental sciences: a review and the implications for comparative theoretical ecosystem analysis. Ecological Modeling, 174 (1-2): 37-54.
- Lite, S.J. and J.C. Stromberg. 2005. Surface water and ground-water thresholds for maintaining Populus-Salix forests, San Pedro River, Arizona. Biological Conservation, 125(2):153-167.
- Marchetti, M.P.,T. Light, P.B. Moyle, and J.H. Viers. 2004. Fish invasions in California watersheds: testing hypotheses using landscape patterns. Ecological Applications, 14(5):1507-1525.
- McFarland D. G. a. J. W. B. 1999. High-Temperature Effects on Growth and Propagule Formation in Hydrilla Biotypes. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management, 37:17-25.
- Minchinton T. E. 2002. Precipitation during El Nino correlates with increasing spread of Phragmites australis in New England, USA, coastal marshes. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 242:305-309.
- Peters, D.P.C., R.A. Pielke, Sr., B.T. Bestelmeyer, C.D. Allen, S. Munson-McGee, and K.M Havstad. 2004. Cross-scale interactions, nonlinearities, and forecasting catastrophic events. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 101 (42):15130-35.
- Pimentel, D., L. Lach, R. Zuniga, and D. Morrison. 2000. Environmental and economic costs of nonindigenous species in the United States. BioScience, 50:53-65
- Pimentel, D., R. Zuniga, and D. Morrison. 2005. Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecological Economics, 52:273-288.
- Puccia, C.J. and R. Levins. 1985. Qualitative Modelling of Complex Systems: An Introduction to Loop Analysis and Time Averaging. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA.
- Richardson, D.M., P. Pyek, M. Rejmánek, M.G. Barbour, R.D. Panetta, and C.J. West. 2000. Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. Diversity and Distributions, 6:93-107.
- Schmitz, Don C. and Daniel Simberloff. 1997. Biological Invasions: A Growing Threat Issues in Science and Technology Online, (http://www.issues.org/13.4/schmit.htm).
- Shafroth, P.B., J.C. Stromberg, and D.T. Patten. 2002. Riparian vegetation response to altered disturbance and stress regimes. Ecological Applications, 12(1):107-123.
- Scheffer, M., S. Carpenter, J.A. Foley, C. Folke, and B. Walker. 2001. Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems. Nature, 413:591-96.
- Stachowicz J. J., J. R. Terwin, R. B. Whitlatch, and R. W. Osman. 2000. Linking climate change and biological invasions: Ocean warming facilitates nonindigenous species invasions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(24):15497-15500.
- Tickner D. P., P. G. Angold, A. M. Gurnell, and J. O. Mountford. 2001. Riparian plant invasions: hydrogeomorphological control and ecological impacts. Progress in Physical Geography, 25(1):22-52.
- Weltzin J. F., R T. Belote, and N. J. Sanders. 2003. Biological invaders in a greenhouse world: will elevated CO2 fuel plant invasions? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 1(3):146-153.
- Wilcox K.L., S. A. Petrie, L.A. Maynard and S.W. Meyer. 2003. Historical Distribution and Abundance of Phragmites australis at Long Point, Lake Erie, Ontario. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 29(4):664-680.
- Zedler, J. and S. Kercher. 2004. Causes and consequences of invasive plants in wetlands: opportunities, opportunists, and outcomes. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 23(5):431-452.
F. Special Requirements (EPA only)
Agency policy prevents EPA scientists and engineers from providing individual applicants with information that would provide them with an unfair competitive advantage. Consequently, EPA scientists and engineers will not review, comment, advise, or provide technical assistance to applicants preparing applications in response to EPA RFAs, or discuss in any manner how the Agency will apply the published evaluation criteria for this competition.
The most competitive proposals will involve local governments and/or state environmental managers. Successful applicants will direct their communicative efforts toward the appropriate user community, i.e., State, Tribal, or local agency. These efforts shall include, but are not limited to: disseminating research results, identifying potential research products (i.e., decision support tools, intervention strategies/techniques, etc.) and discussing a strategy for coordinating the demonstration of these tools and techniques to these communities.
The application must include a plan (see “Data Plan” in section IV.B.5.c.) to make available to the public all data generated from observations, analyses, or model development (primary data) and any secondary (or existing) data used under a grant awarded from this RFA. The data must be available in a format and with documentation such that they may be used by others in the scientific community.
These awards may involve the collection of “Geospatial Information,” which includes information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features or boundaries on the Earth or applications, tools, and hardware associated with the generation, maintenance, or distribution of such information. This information may be derived from, among other things, Geographic Positioning System (GPS), remote sensing, mapping, charting, and surveying technologies, or statistical data.
It is anticipated that a total of approximately $3.9 million will be awarded under this announcement, depending on the availability of funds and the quality of the applications received. EPA and USDA will commit up to approximately $2.5 million, and up to $1.4 million, respectively. A total of approximately 8 grants or cooperative agreements are anticipated for funding.
EPA
The EPA anticipates funding approximately 5 grants or cooperative agreements under this RFA. Requests for amounts in excess of a total of $600,000, including direct and indirect costs, will not be considered. The total project period for an application submitted in response to this RFA may not exceed 3 years. The EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards, or make fewer awards than anticipated under this RFA. The EPA reserves the right, consistent with agency policy and without further competition, to make additional awards under this RFA if additional funding becomes available. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than 4 months after the original selection decisions.
EPA may fund both grants and cooperative agreements under this announcement. Under a grant, EPA scientists and engineers are not permitted to be substantially involved in the execution of the research. However, EPA encourages interaction between its own laboratory scientists and grant Principal Investigators after the award of an EPA grant for the sole purpose of exchanging information in research areas of common interest that may add value to their respective research activities. This interaction must be incidental to achieving the goals of the research under a grant. Interaction that is “incidental” does not involve resource commitments.
Where appropriate, based on consideration of the nature of the proposed project relative to the EPA’s intramural research program and available resources, the EPA will fund cooperative agreements under this announcement. When addressing a research question/problem of common interest, collaborations between scientists and the institution’s principal investigators are permitted under a cooperative agreement. These collaborations may include data and information exchange, providing technical input to experimental design and theoretical development, coordinating extramural research with in-house activities, the refinement of valuation endpoints, and joint authorship of journal articles on these activities. Proposals should not identify EPA cooperators or interactions; specific interactions between EPA’s investigators and those of the prospective recipient for cooperative agreements will be negotiated at the time of award.
USDA
USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service anticipates funding 3 grants or cooperative agreements under this announcement, depending on availability of funds. Projected awards are anticipated to be in the range of $100,000-200,000 per year for 2-4 years. Requests for amounts in excess of a total of $600,000, including direct and indirect costs, will not be considered. The total project period for an application submitted in response to this RFA may not exceed 4 years.
Applicants selected for USDA funding will be required to submit forms and documents as detailed in “A Guide for Preparation and Submission of Paper-based Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service Applications.” All awards made from USDA will be limited to an indirect costs cap of 20% of total direct and indirect costs, or 25% of total direct costs. Revised budgets will be solicited if these guidelines are not met by an application to be awarded by USDA-CSREES.
Public nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes public institutions of higher education and hospitals) and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes private institutions of higher education and hospitals) located in the U.S.; state and local governments; Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments; and U.S. territories or possessions are eligible to apply. Profit-making firms are not eligible to receive grants from the EPA under this program.
Eligible nonprofit organizations include any organizations that meet the definition of nonprofit in OMB Circular A-122. However, nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c) (4) of the Internal Revenue Code that lobby are not eligible to apply.
National laboratories funded by Federal Agencies (Federally-Funded Research and Development Centers, “FFRDCs”) may not apply. FFRDC employees may cooperate or collaborate with eligible applicants within the limits imposed by applicable legislation and regulations. They may participate in planning, conducting, and analyzing the research directed by the applicant, but must not direct projects on behalf of the applicant organization. The institution, organization, or governance receiving the award may provide funds through its grant from the EPA to an FFRDC for research personnel, supplies, equipment, and other expenses directly related to the research. However, salaries for permanent FFRDC employees may not be provided through this mechanism.
Federal Agencies may not apply. Federal employees are not eligible to serve in a principal leadership role on a grant, and may not receive salaries or augment their Agency’s appropriations in other ways through grants made by this program.
The applicant institution may enter into an agreement with a Federal Agency to purchase or utilize unique supplies or services unavailable in the private sector. Examples are purchase of satellite data, census data tapes, chemical reference standards, analyses, or use of instrumentation or other facilities not available elsewhere. A written justification for federal involvement must be included in the application. In addition, an appropriate form of assurance that documents the commitment, such as a letter of intent from the Federal Agency involved, should be included.
Potential applicants who are uncertain of their eligibility should contact Tom Barnwell (barnwell.thomas@epa.gov) in NCER, phone (202) 343-9862.
USDA
Except where otherwise prohibited by law, State agricultural experiment stations, all colleges and universities, other research institutions and organizations, Federal agencies, national laboratories, public and private organizations or corporations, and individuals are eligible to apply for and to receive a competitive grant through the National Research Initiative of the CSREES.
B. Cost-Sharing
Institutional cost sharing is not required.
General
Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or they will be rejected. In addition, where a page limitation is expressed in Section IV with respect to parts of the application, pages in excess of the page limit will not be reviewed. Applications must be received by the EPA, or grants.gov, on or before the solicitation closing date and time in Section IV of this announcement or they will be returned to the sender without further consideration. Also, applications exceeding the funding limits or project period limits described herein will be returned without review. Further, applications that fail to demonstrate a public purpose of support or stimulation (e.g., by proposing research which primarily benefits a Federal program or provides a service for a Federal agency) will not be funded.
In addition, to be eligible for funding consideration, a project’s focus must consist of activities within the statutory terms of EPA’s or USDA’s financial assistance authorities; specifically, the statute(s) listed in I.C. above.
EPA only
Generally, to meet EPA’s eligibility requirements, a project must address the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of air pollution, water pollution, solid/hazardous waste pollution; toxic substances control; or pesticide control. These activities should relate to the gathering or transferring of information or advancing the state of knowledge. Proposals should emphasize this “learning” concept, as opposed to “fixing” an environmental problem via a well-established method. Proposals relating to other topics which are sometimes included within the term “environment” such as recreation, conservation, restoration, protection of wildlife habitats, etc., must describe the relationship of these topics to the statutorily required purpose of pollution prevention and/or control.
Successful proposals must address how global change factors, as defined for this solicitation, do all of the following:
- affect the establishment, abundance, and distribution of invasive species, including causing nonnative species to become invasive and the mechanisms by which these changes occur;
- interact with invasive species to create feedbacks that further promote successful biological invasions or trigger threshold responses in linked aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems;
- affect current management of invasive species, such that methods and protocols may need to be altered to protect or restore ecosystem services and integrity.
In addition, successful proposals must describe the following:
- Hypothesized relationship between global change factors and invasive species, including a description of how the global change factors to be investigated exacerbate existing patterns of biological invasions;
- Ecosystem services known, or hypothesized, to be impaired by the effects of global change factors and invasive species on the structure and function of the ecosystems selected for study;
- Proposed methods to identify and quantify feedback loops and ecological thresholds;
- Rationale for the study design and its ability to advance the science and management of invasive species dynamics as affected by global change factors.
Applications deemed ineligible for funding consideration will be notified within fifteen calendar days of the ineligibility determination.
IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION
You may submit either a paper application or an electronic application (but not both) for this announcement. Instructions for both types of submission follow. If not otherwise marked, instructions apply to both types of submissions.
A. Internet Address to Request Application Package
For paper applications, forms and instructions can be found on the NCER web site: https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms.
For electronic applications, use the application package available at Grants.gov (see “Submission Instructions for Electronic Applications”). Note: With the exception of the Budget form (available at https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms), all necessary forms are included in the electronic application package.
For both paper and electronic applications, an email will be sent by NCER to the Principal Investigator and the Administrative Contact (see below) to acknowledge receipt of the application and transmit other important information. The email will be sent from receipt.application@epa.gov; emails to this address will not be accepted. If you do not receive an email acknowledgment within 30 days of the submission closing date, immediately inform the Eligibility Contact shown in this solicitation. Failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed. See “Submission Instructions for Electronic Applications” for additional information regarding acknowledgment of receipt of electronically submitted applications. Please note: Due to often-lengthy delays in delivery, it is especially important that you monitor NCER’s confirmation of receipt of your application when using regular mail.
B. Content and Form of Application Submission
The application is made by submitting the materials described below. It is essential that the application contain all information requested and be submitted in the formats described.
- Standard Form 424
The applicant must complete Standard Form 424. This form will be the first page(s) of the application. Instructions for completion of the SF424 are included with the form. (However, note that EPA requires that the entire requested dollar amount appear on the 424, not simply the proposed first year expenses.) The form must contain the original (or electronic) signature of an authorized representative of the applying institution.
Applicants are required to provide a "Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System" (DUNS) number when applying for federal grants or cooperative agreements. Organizations may receive a DUNS number by calling 1-866-705-5711 or by visiting the web site at http://www.dnb.com.
Executive Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs," applies to most EPA programs and assistance agreements, unless the program or assistance agreement supports tribal, training/fellowships (other than Wastewater and Small Water Systems Operator training programs), and research and development (with some exceptions). The SF424 refers to this Executive Order requirement. National research programs are generally exempt from review unless the proposals (a) require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), or (b) do not require an EIS but will be newly initiated at a particular site and require unusual measures to limit the possibility of adverse exposure or hazard to the general public, or (c) have a unique geographic focus and are directly relevant to the governmental responsibilities of a State or local government within that geographic area. To determine whether their state participates in this process, and how to comply, applicants should consult http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html.
- Key Contacts
The applicant must complete the "Key Contacts" form as the second page of the application: a Key Contacts continuation page is also available at https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms. The Key Contacts form should also be completed for major sub-agreements (i.e., primary co-investigators). Please make certain that all contact information is accurate.
- Table of Contents
Provide a list of the major subdivisions of the application indicating the page number on which each section begins.
- Abstract (1 page)
The abstract is a very important document in the review process. Therefore, it is critical that the abstract accurately describes the research being proposed and conveys all the essential elements of the research. Also, the abstracts of applications that receive EPA funding will be posted on the NCER web site.
The abstract should include the information described below (a-h). Examples of abstracts for current grants may be found on the NCER web site.
- Funding Opportunity Title and Number for this proposal.
- Project Title: Use the exact title of your project as it appears in the application. The title must be brief yet represent the major thrust of the project. Because the title will be used by those not familiar with the project, strike a balance between highly technical words and phrases and more commonly understood terminology. Do not use general phrases such as "research on."
- Investigators: List the Principal Investigator, then the names and affiliations of each co-investigator who will significantly contribute to the project. Provide a web site URL or an email contact address for additional information.
- Institution: In the same order as the list of investigators, list the name, city and state of each participating university or other applicant institution. The institution applying for assistance must be clearly identified.
- Project Period and Location: Show the proposed project beginning and ending dates and the geographical location(s) where the work will be conducted.
- Project Cost: Show the total dollars requested (include direct and indirect costs for all years).
- Project Summary: Provide three subsections addressing: (1) the objectives of the study (including any hypotheses that will be tested), (2) the experimental approach to be used (a description of the proposed project), and (3) the expected results of the project and how it addresses the research needs identified in the solicitation, including the estimated improvement in risk assessment or risk management that will result from successful completion of the proposed work.
- Supplemental Keywords: Without duplicating terms already used in the text of the abstract, list keywords to assist database searchers in finding your research. A list of suggested keywords may be found at: https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms.
- Research Plan, Quality Assurance Statement and References
- Research Plan (15 pages)
Applications should focus on a limited number of research objectives that adequately and clearly demonstrate that they meet the RFA requirements. Explicitly state the main hypotheses that you will investigate, the data you will create or use, the analytical tools you will use to investigate these hypotheses or analyze these data, and the results you expect to achieve. Research methods must be clearly stated so that reviewers can evaluate the appropriateness of your approach and the tools you intend to use. A statement such as: "we will evaluate the data using the usual statistical methods" is not specific enough for peer reviewers.
This description must not exceed fifteen (15) consecutively numbered (bottom center), 8.5x11-inch pages of single-spaced, standard 12-point type with 1-inch margins. While these guidelines establish the minimum type size requirements, applicants are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in selection of an appropriate font for use in the proposal.
The description must provide the following information:
- Objectives: List the objectives of the proposed research and the hypotheses being tested during the project, and briefly state why the intended research is important and how it fulfills the requirements of the solicitation. This section should also include any bac
- Research Plan (15 pages)
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.