Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forests

The summary for the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forests grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Geological Survey, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forests: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Great Lakes Science Center, is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for a research project seeking to improve understanding of the food-web linkages between nearshore and offshore. This project is under the umbrella of the 2015 Coordinated Science and Monitoring Initiative that focuses on the Lake Michigan Ecosystem. The USGS design includes sampling eight nearshore-to-offshore transects, with water, plankton, benthos, and fish being sampled at 18, 46, and >100 m bottom depth at each transect. It also locates transects along a gradient of proximity to tributary inputs of phosphorus (from adjacent to high-loading tributaries, such as the St. Joseph River, to adjacent to no tributaries, such as offshore of Arcadia, Michigan). Sampling of transects will occur in spring, summer, and autumn. Two key research objectives include 1) How does nutrient availability change from nearshore to offshore and how is that availability influenced by proximity to tributary inputs?, 2) How well does productivity of phytoplankton within a given habitat correspond to productivity of zooplankton and fish?. Understanding the distribution and abundance of nutrients and biota (e.g., invertebrates, fish) across a nearshore to offshore gradient remains a key knowledge gap identified by the Lake Michigan LAMP and fishery management community. Increased understanding and knowledge of the Lake Michigan nearshore will facilitate the development of a Nearshore Strategy by the LAMP, which is called for in the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.