Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) | G23AS00137

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00137

This grant opportunity is a US Geological Survey (USGS) cooperative agreement through the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) focused on evaluating what happens to native aquatic wildlife and disease risk after targeted removal of invasive American bullfrogs in south-central Arizona. The project is built around a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) study design, meaning it compares ecological conditions at the same sites before versus after management actions, while also comparing those changes to similar sites that either still have bullfrogs or never had them. The overall goal is to produce clear, defensible evidence about whether bullfrog eradication worked and what ecological benefits (or remaining risks) follow from that effort.

The work ties directly to a large eradication campaign funded in 2016 under the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Cooperative Recovery Initiative (CRI), which targeted one of the last strongholds of American bullfrogs in the region. Ahead of those eradication actions, USGS collected environmental DNA (eDNA) samples in 2016 to document aquatic community composition across a network of sites: 21 locations scheduled for bullfrog eradication and 17 control locations (including sites with bullfrogs and sites without them). Those baseline results showed a strong pattern: sites with bullfrogs were very unlikely to support Chiricahua leopard frogs, and they were more likely to contain signatures of important amphibian pathogens, specifically amphibian chytrid fungus (Bd) and ranaviruses (RV). Both pathogens are well-known threats to amphibians and are particularly relevant to management of imperiled native species like the Chiricahua leopard frog.

Since eradication began, field observations have noted Chiricahua leopard frogs re-colonizing some locations where bullfrogs were removed, suggesting the management action may be producing the intended conservation response. However, observations alone are not enough to confirm system-wide outcomes across a landscape and over time. This opportunity funds the next critical step: analyzing eDNA filters collected in 2020 and 2021 from the same set of 39 sites originally sampled in 2016. By processing and interpreting these later samples, researchers can test whether bullfrogs were truly eliminated or reduced to non-detectable levels, and can quantify how the broader aquatic community and disease environment shifted after management. In practical terms, the analyses are intended to measure responses of multiple imperiled herpetofauna as well as aquatic pathogens, helping managers understand not just whether bullfrogs are gone, but whether disease risk indicators and native species presence improved in a measurable way.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered as a cooperative agreement (not a standard grant), which typically means USGS expects substantial involvement and collaboration during the project. It is issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, a partnership framework used by federal agencies to obtain research, technical assistance, and education support through designated university and partner networks. Eligibility is limited to organizations that are official participating partners of the Pacific Northwest CESU. The funding opportunity number is G23AS00137 under CFDA 15.808, with an award ceiling of $68,244. The posting date was January 5, 2023, and the original application closing date was February 6, 2023.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (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 2023-01-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-02-06. (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 $68,244.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G23AS00137

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