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ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

CSCOR FY08 Regional Ecosystem Prediction Program

(The title above is also a direct link to the full Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) announcement. The FFO is also posted on the Grants.gov website as part of the NOAA FY 2008 Omnibus Federal Register Notice. You can search for the FFO in Grants.gov using the “basic search” feature. Search for CFDA number 11.478)

CSCOR announces its FY 2008 solicitation for proposals studying ecosystem effects of (1) invasive species in the Great Lakes and (2) shoreline alterations in the Mid-Atlantic, as well as (3) ecological goal-setting in relation to Everglades restoration.  Partnerships between coastal/resource managers and scientists are required for these proposals.

Summary Description: CSCOR provides a focal point for regional ecosystem-scale competitive coastal ocean research within NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. Together with partners within NOAA and other organizations responsible for coastal resources, CSCOR advances the scientific understanding needed to protect coastal resources and ensure their viability for future generations. By targeting critical regional ecosystem issues of the Great Lakes and coastal ocean and promoting interactive and predictive approaches, CSCOR aims to provide scientific knowledge that directly benefits management of U.S. coastal resources and helps NOAA, other federal agencies, and state, tribal, and local governments achieve their coastal stewardship responsibilities. The intent of the Regional Ecosystem Prediction Program is to consider a limited number of regions and issues each year but, through annual announcements and multi-year awards, maintain a portfolio of regional research with a high degree of diversity, both geographically and of issues addressed. In some cases there may also be announcements for issues that span multiple regions. This announcement solicits regional ecosystem proposals from the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic and South Florida, briefly described below. See the full announcement for complete detail of the individual program elements.

Program Elements:

1) “Invasive Species in the Great Lakes - A Regional Scale Approach.” In contrast to the more typical targeted studies that focus on individual species and specific management and mitigation tools, this solicitation requests proposals that will develop scientific capabilities and tools (models or forecasts) that address the interactions between invasive species and regional ecosystem-based management, including interconnections between the Great Lakes. This could include items from the Ecosystem Response and Impacts, Prevention, Control and Management and Economics recommendations of the Great Lakes Commission.

2) “Cumulative Impacts of Stressors at the Land-Water Interface in the Mid-Atlantic.” (For the purposes of this announcement, the Mid-Atlantic is defined as the region from Delaware Bay to southern border of Virginia.) Proposals are solicited for a regional-scale ecosystem research study in the Mid-Atlantic investigating the cumulative impacts of multiple stressors (as described in the announcement) at the land-water interface of estuaries and bays on recreationally, economically or ecologically important living resource populations and communities. Proposals must, therefore address this issue on a regional scale that includes a significant portion of the range of target populations and communities within mid-Atlantic estuaries and/or coastal bays, and be interdisciplinary, comprehensive, integrated, and multiple-investigator to develop capabilities for innovative forecasts and predictions that will support a regional ecosystem approach to management of critical stressors.

3) “Ecosystem Goal-Setting in Coastal Waters and Reefs of South Florida.” Proposals are solicited to develop, undertake and conclude a consensus-building process that results in scientifically-based quantifiable goals for aquatic resources and habitats of the Florida Bay and Keys that are of concern to or fall within the legal mandates of management agencies at the federal, state and local level. This is the next phase of CSCOR’s longstanding South Florida Program to understand and eventually provide predictive tools to manage the downstream impacts of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.

Closing Dates and Time for Applications:

Applications are due no later than 3:00 PM (EST) on October 01, 2007 (for Great Lakes), October 15, 2007 (for Mid-Atlantic), and October 29, 2007 (for South Florida).