Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Basin CESU | G19AS00103

Opportunity Information: Apply for G19AS00103

This funding opportunity (G19AS00103) comes from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Department of the Interior, through the Western Ecological Research Center. It is offered under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) network, specifically the Great Basin CESU, and will be awarded as a cooperative agreement. The focus is research and development in science and technology, and it is tied to CFDA 15.808. The opportunity was created July 9, 2019, with an original closing date of July 26, 2019. USGS expects to make one award, with a maximum funding level (award ceiling) of $32,979. Eligibility is limited to CESU partners (the listing notes “Others,” with clarification referenced in the opportunity’s eligibility details).

The project itself is centered on the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and asks a very specific question: what are the negative effects of altered plant diets on juvenile tortoises, and how might those effects be mediated through changes in the gastrointestinal or fecal microbiome. In plain terms, the study is looking at whether shifts in what tortoises eat, especially in landscapes increasingly dominated by invasive plants, change the composition and diversity of the microbes living in their digestive systems, and whether those microbial changes are linked to differences in growth, overall health, and immune function. The work builds on previous efforts by USGS and partners and is described as a small pilot diet experiment designed to test these diet-microbiome-health connections.

The experimental design described in the announcement involves housing juvenile tortoises in outdoor, predator-proof enclosures and assigning them to one of two diet treatments. One group will be fed an invasive grass diet featuring red brome (Bromus rubens), while the other group will receive a mixture of native forb plants. Over the course of the study, juveniles will be checked monthly for key biological outcomes, including changes in body mass, shell growth, overall body and clinical condition, and survivorship. Alongside these health and growth measurements, the project will collect fecal (scat) samples, which will then be analyzed using high-throughput sequencing methods to characterize the microbial communities present. The emphasis on “lineages and community diversity” signals that the study is not just looking for a single pathogen or organism, but for broader patterns in microbiome composition and diversity that could reflect diet-driven changes.

A notable component of the work is that microbiome results and sample information will be integrated with an existing USGS-maintained library of tortoise biological health data and environmental covariates. That means the awardee is not only generating new sequencing data, but also plugging those results into a larger, continuing dataset that tracks health indicators and relevant environmental factors. This integration is meant to strengthen interpretation, allowing researchers to evaluate how diet effects might interact with other stressors and conditions in the tortoise’s environment. The announcement also makes clear that this dataset will continue to be developed as part of the collaboration, which is consistent with the cooperative agreement model where USGS typically remains substantially involved in project coordination, data stewardship, and scientific direction.

In terms of broader purpose and expected payoff, the project aims to help identify measurable biological signals of stress or declining condition that may be associated with landscape disturbance, altered plant communities, and other environmental pressures. By tying diet treatments to microbiome shifts and then linking those shifts to growth and health outcomes, the work is intended to support more quantitative ways to assess tortoise condition and potential mechanisms driving impacts. The scope is also described as expandable: while the pilot diet experiment is central, the opportunity leaves room for additional analyses of gastrointestinal/fecal microbiome data from tortoises foraging on invasive, native, and even commercial plant diets, and it notes that additional health classifications could be incorporated as the study progresses.

• 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, Great Basin 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 Jul 09, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 26, 2019. (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 $32,979.00 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 G19AS00103

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