Monitoring of Tree Island Condition in the Southern Everglades | W81EWF 24 SOI 0027

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 24 SOI 0027

The grant opportunity titled "Monitoring of Tree Island Condition in the Southern Everglades" is a discretionary research funding announcement from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). It will be awarded as a cooperative agreement, meaning the selected partner should expect active federal involvement or collaboration during the work rather than a simple pass-through grant. The project centers on understanding how tree island vegetation in the southern Everglades is responding to hydrologic change driven by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). In practical terms, the work is meant to track whether restoration-related water management changes are improving, degrading, or otherwise altering tree island plant communities over time, and to generate information that can be used to judge ecological performance as restoration projects come online.

The core scientific focus is tree island vegetation structure and composition. "Structure" generally refers to the physical arrangement and form of vegetation (such as canopy height, stem density, layering, and distribution of shrubs versus mature trees), while "composition" refers to which species are present and in what proportions. Because tree islands are tightly linked to water depth, hydroperiod, and seasonal patterns of inundation and drying, the opportunity is framed around hydrology as the key driver. The announcement also notes possible additional work using monitoring data to develop tools for measuring ecological performance in response to CERP implementation. That signals interest not only in collecting and analyzing field data, but also in translating those data into indicators, assessment methods, or decision-support products that help managers evaluate restoration outcomes.

Four project objectives define the expected work. Objective 1 is ongoing monitoring of tree island plant community condition, emphasizing consistent measurement of vegetation structure and species composition. Objective 2 is to assess temporal change, which implies repeated observations through time and analysis that can separate real ecological trends from short-term variability, such as changes caused by unusual wet or dry years. Objective 3 is to determine relationships among hydrologic regimes in adjacent marshes, other stressors, and tree island vegetation dynamics. This objective broadens the analysis beyond water alone by explicitly allowing for additional stress variables, which could include factors like salinity, nutrient inputs, fire history, invasive species pressure, storm impacts, herbivory, or soil and peat conditions, as long as they are relevant to explaining vegetation responses. Objective 4 emphasizes spatially explicit, long-term change in vegetation in response to changing hydrologic regimes, pointing toward mapping, georeferenced datasets, and analyses that can detect where changes are occurring across the landscape, not just whether changes are occurring at a few plots.

In terms of eligibility and administrative details, the opportunity is restricted to non-federal partners of the South Florida - Caribbean Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). That means applicants must be part of that CESU network and cannot be federal agencies applying directly. The funding opportunity number is W81EWF 24 SOI 0027, and the CFDA (assistance listing) number is 12.630. The agency anticipates making one award, with an award ceiling of $127,000. The original closing date listed is June 5, 2024, and the opportunity was created on April 15, 2024. The notice also states that the detailed budget and scope will be developed separately from the brief anticipated work described, which usually indicates that the initial announcement is meant to identify an appropriate partner and then jointly refine the final work plan, deliverables, and costs within the stated funding limit.

• The Engineer Research and Development Center in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Monitoring of Tree Island Condition in the Southern Everglades" 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 2024-04-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-05. (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 $127,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for W81EWF 24 SOI 0027

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: