Landscape Pattern – Marl Prairies/Slough Gradients

Background
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) are seeking applications for a project which provides information regarding changes in prairie and slough communities in response to restoration efforts under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) program. The CERP Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP) was developed as a framework for measuring and understanding system responses to CERP, determining how well CERP is meeting its goals and objectives, and identifying opportunities for improving the performance of CERP where needed. The project will draw upon prior research conducted in the area and continue to study how CERP restoration translates into impacts on prairie and slough landscapes.

Grant Details
The purpose of this research is to continue a long-term dataset used to monitor changes in vegetation along established transects in the prairie-slough gradient across Shark River Slough and into the edges of the marl prairie on the eastern and/or western sides of the slough. Additionally, there is potential work related to using monitoring data to develop tools to measure ecological performance in response to CERP implementation.

The project objectives include:
Objective 1: To characterize the composition, structure, and abundance of prairie and slough vegetation communities;
Objective 2: To identify the boundary between different vegetation assemblages, characterize the bio-physical attributes of transition zone, and detect the spatio-temporal shift in the position of the boundaries;
Objective 3: To relate changes in vegetation structure and composition, particularly in the transition zone, to hydrologic changes resulting from CERP restoration activities or climatic variation.

Eligibility Requirements
This opportunity is restricted to non-federal partners of the South Florida - Caribbean Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CESU). Religious organizations are entitled to compete on equal footing with secular organizations for Federal financial assistance as described in E.O. 13798, “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty.”

Period of Performance
The anticipated period of performance is five (5) years with one base period and up to four option periods.

Grant Value
$132,000.00 for Year 1, $134,900.00 for Year 2, $138,500.00 for Year 3, $142,100.00 for Year 4, and $145,800 for Year 5. The total amount of funding expected to be awarded through this announcement is $693,000.00.