Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G21AS00555

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is this funding opportunity?

This opportunity is a US Geological Survey (USGS) discretionary funding opportunity offered through a cooperative agreement. It supports research focused on riparian vegetation along regulated river systems on the Colorado Plateau, with a particular emphasis on the Colorado River ecosystem in Arizona.

What is the main goal of the project?

The core goal is to improve the ability to predict how riparian plant communities respond when river flows are altered. The project is intended to connect changes in plant condition and composition to flow events (including floods and experimental high flows), drought, and broader climate variables over time.

What geographic area and ecosystem does the opportunity emphasize?

The work targets the Colorado Plateau, with particular emphasis on riparian vegetation along the Colorado River ecosystem in Arizona, especially in the context of a regulated river system.

Why is USGS funding this work now?

USGS notes that large and valuable datasets already exist for the Colorado River ecosystem, but the mechanisms linking hydrology and climate to vegetation change are still not well resolved. The opportunity is meant to move beyond correlations and develop a more mechanistic and predictive understanding that river and water managers can use.

What makes riparian vegetation responses hard to predict in this system?

The river is regulated, and vegetation patterns respond to both major events (like flood-like flows and experimental high flows) and subtler operational features such as seasonal base flows and daily flow fluctuations. These flow characteristics shape hydrologic zones along the river corridor and influence which species establish, persist, or decline.

What specific scientific challenge does the opportunity call out?

USGS highlights that observational monitoring alone cannot cleanly separate the effects of seasonal base flows from the effects of daily flow fluctuations because these factors are often tightly correlated in real river operations. In addition, lower-elevation habitats near the active channel typically experience larger daily stage changes than higher-elevation terraces, which can blur cause-and-effect patterns in monitoring records.

What kinds of work does the opportunity expect applicants to do?

The opportunity calls for two complementary lines of work: (1) modeling and synthesis using existing long-term monitoring and historical records, and (2) new experimentation to independently manipulate or vary key hydrologic drivers so the project can disentangle which aspects of flow regime drive vegetation outcomes.

What is included in the modeling and synthesis component?

This component is built on existing information such as historical photo archives, remotely sensed imagery, and other riparian vegetation monitoring datasets from across the Colorado Plateau and the Colorado River corridor. The expectation is to translate disparate records into predictive tools or relationships linking vegetation responses to flow and climate conditions.

What is included in the experimentation component?

The opportunity emphasizes new, controlled physiological experiments using species that occur on the Colorado Plateau. These experiments are intended to directly connect hydrologic conditions to plant function, performance, survival, and community change by independently varying key drivers that cannot be separated using observational data alone.

Why are controlled experiments necessary in addition to monitoring data?

Because base flows and daily fluctuations tend to be correlated in the real world, monitoring records alone may not isolate which driver is responsible for observed vegetation change. Controlled experiments are intended to vary hydrologic drivers independently so their effects can be disentangled and linked to mechanisms.

What flow-related drivers is the project concerned with?

The description specifically points to floods and experimental high flows, seasonal base flows (minimum flow volumes maintained through the year), and daily flow fluctuations. It also situates vegetation change within longer-term drought and broader climate variability.

What are High-Flow Experiments (HFEs), and why do they matter here?

High-Flow Experiments (HFEs) are highlighted as an important system context. HFEs can deposit sand at elevations linked to river stage, creating new habitat surfaces with different depths to groundwater. These geomorphic changes can create recruitment opportunities for some species while disadvantaging others, and the project is expected to examine vegetation change in relation to these event-driven habitat shifts.

How does geomorphology connect to the vegetation questions in this opportunity?

The opportunity describes how HFEs can change habitat surfaces (for example, through sand deposition) at elevations tied to river stage. Those new surfaces can alter depth to groundwater, which is directly relevant to riparian plant establishment and persistence, and therefore affects community composition over time.

What types of outcomes is the project intended to produce?

The intent is to develop predictive understanding and tools that link riparian vegetation responses to flow and climate conditions, moving beyond simple correlations toward mechanistic relationships that can inform water and river management decisions.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is restricted to organizations that are participating partners in the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program. This reflects the CESU model where federal agencies collaborate with a network of academic and other partner institutions for research, technical support, and education.

What is the funding mechanism, and what does it imply?

The mechanism is a cooperative agreement. This typically implies substantial involvement by USGS during the project, rather than USGS acting only as a pass-through funder.

What is the activity category for this opportunity?

The activity category is listed as science and technology and other research and development.

What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?

The opportunity is listed under CFDA 15.808.

What is the opportunity number?

The opportunity number is G21AS00555.

What is the maximum award amount (award ceiling)?

The listed award ceiling is $498,000.

When was the opportunity created?

The opportunity was created on 2021-06-09.

What was the original closing date?

The original closing date was 2021-08-06.

Does this project focus only on big flood-like events?

No. While floods and experimental high flows are included, the description emphasizes that vegetation also responds to subtler operational characteristics such as seasonal base flows and daily flow fluctuations, which help define hydrologic zones along the river corridor.

What kinds of existing datasets does the opportunity reference for synthesis?

The description references historical photo archives, remotely sensed imagery, and other riparian vegetation monitoring datasets, including long-term monitoring and historical records from across the Colorado Plateau and the Colorado River corridor.

How does the opportunity describe the relationship between elevation zones and flow variability?

It notes that lower-elevation habitats closer to the active channel typically experience larger daily stage changes than higher-elevation terraces. This spatial pattern can confound interpretation of monitoring data, making it difficult to separate the effects of base flows from daily fluctuations.

What is the intended management relevance of this research?

The overall intent is to provide a mechanistic, predictive understanding that water and river managers can use when evaluating operational choices and anticipating ecological consequences for riparian vegetation.