Wading Bird Colony Location, Size, Timing, and Reproductive Success in Lake Okeechobee | W81EWF 24 SOI 0020

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 24 SOI 0020

This funding opportunity supports continued monitoring of breeding wading birds in the Lake Okeechobee basin as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). CERP was authorized under the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 to restore south Florida ecosystems by changing infrastructure and water operations within the Central and Southern Florida Project. A key piece of that restoration effort is the CERP Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP), which is meant to track ecosystem responses over time, measure whether restoration goals are being met, and help managers adjust actions through adaptive management. The RECOVER program (a multiagency science team) leads this monitoring framework, and wading birds are one of its most important indicator groups because their breeding activity reflects broad wetland conditions, including hydrology, food availability (fish and invertebrates), and habitat quality.

The core need behind the grant is straightforward: if managers want to test whether restoration-driven hydrologic changes are actually improving the ecosystem, they need consistent, long-term data on where wading birds nest, when they nest, how many birds are nesting, and how successful those nests are. Wading bird responses are tied to several restoration hypotheses, such as the idea that improved water conditions should boost prey production and concentrate prey in ways that increase foraging efficiency, which in turn should increase nesting effort and reproductive output. Because the south Florida system is made up of multiple distinct areas (described here as different "patches" of breeding activity), monitoring Lake Okeechobee is necessary to separate local effects from broader systemwide restoration outcomes.

The project is designed to continue and strengthen a long-term dataset tracking annual breeding numbers and reproductive success for wading bird colonies in the Lake Okeechobee basin. The required work centers on three main objectives. First, the recipient must produce an annual summary, with monthly time detail, describing colony size, colony locations, and species composition for nesting wading birds across the basin. Second, the recipient must provide an annual quantitative summary of nest success and nest productivity for the wading bird community, which typically means metrics that describe how many nests succeed and how many young are produced per nesting attempt or per successful nest. Third, the project emphasizes standardizing monitoring methods and integrating results across all south Florida wading bird monitoring efforts, so the Lake Okeechobee data can be directly compared with other areas and rolled up into systemwide assessments used by RECOVER.

In addition to the core monitoring and reporting, the announcement includes two optional task areas that applicants can propose with separate scope and budget. One optional task involves using approved (blue-listed) unmanned aerial vehicles to develop and evaluate alternative ways to monitor breeding activity, potentially improving coverage, consistency, or efficiency compared with traditional survey methods. The second optional task is the development of a predictive model for Lake Okeechobee wading bird breeding, intended for use as a RECOVER performance measure, which would help translate monitoring data into forward-looking, decision-relevant tools that can inform restoration evaluation and planning.

The public benefit case focuses on wading birds as a visible, scientifically meaningful signal of ecosystem health. By documenting breeding timing, colony formation and size, nesting characteristics, nest success, and species interactions, the work builds knowledge about population dynamics and how those dynamics respond to ecological conditions and restoration actions. The broader argument is that healthier ecosystems support public interests through improved habitat management outcomes, better outdoor recreation opportunities, and economic benefits tied to a thriving South Florida environment.

Administratively, this is a discretionary research opportunity offered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through a cooperative agreement, with one expected award and an award ceiling of $124,000. The opportunity (W81EWF 24 SOI 0020) was posted on 2024-04-11 and originally closed on 2024-06-04. Eligibility is restricted to non-federal partners of the South Florida and Caribbean Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CESU), meaning the applicant pool is limited to organizations that qualify under that CESU partnership framework.

• The Dept. of the Army -- Corps of Engineers in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Wading Bird Colony Location, Size, Timing, and Reproductive Success in Lake Okeechobee" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.630.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-04. (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 $124,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for W81EWF 24 SOI 0020

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