Assessing Impacts of Hurricane Irma on the Silver Rice Rat | F18AS00293

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00293

This opportunity is a Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notice of intent to make a single-source award for work focused on the endangered silver rice rat (SRR) in the Florida Keys following Hurricane Irma. It is not a typical open grant competition and does not have a full public announcement attached. Instead, the Service indicates it plans to fund one cooperative agreement, with the University of Florida identified as the intended recipient, and the posting functions mainly as a public notice of that intent.

The main purpose of the project is to measure how Hurricane Irma affected the SRR across its range and to understand whether the population is rebounding over time. The work begins with a range-wide survey using field methods designed for the species and its habitat. The notice specifies techniques such as floating live-trap platforms deployed according to the USFWS Rice Rat Trapping protocol, along with camera traps. Results from these surveys are meant to be compared against historic benchmarks, including past information on where the species occurs and prior estimates of population size, so the project can quantify changes attributable to the storm and subsequent conditions.

A second phase of fieldwork is built in to capture recovery dynamics rather than just a single snapshot. Sites found to be occupied, plus adjacent areas, are planned to be resampled the following winter, about 12 months later. That resurvey is intended to generate evidence of localized recruitment (new individuals entering the population) and colonization (use of nearby areas), which together help determine whether SRR populations are resilient after major hurricanes or whether they remain depressed or fragmented.

The final deliverable area moves from field detection to predictive planning. Data from the range-wide surveys will be used to model potential SRR habitat throughout the Keys. Those habitat models will then support vulnerability assessments under different future scenarios, particularly sea-level rise and storm impacts. In practice, this means the project is expected to produce information that can guide conservation and recovery planning by identifying which habitats are likely to remain suitable, which are most at risk, and where management actions could be prioritized as coastal conditions change.

Administratively, the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies substantial involvement by the federal agency during the project (for example, coordination on methods, data needs, or application of results). The opportunity is categorized as discretionary and spans research and development themes, including education, environment, information/statistics, and science and technology. The CFDA number listed is 15.678. The posting shows a creation date of August 8, 2018, with an original closing date of August 15, 2018, an expected single award, and an award ceiling listed as 1, reflecting the single-source nature of the action rather than an openly competed pool of funds. Although eligibility is listed broadly as unrestricted, the notice language makes clear that this specific action is intended as a single-source award to one institution rather than a call for multiple applicants.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the education, environment, information and statistics, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Assessing Impacts of Hurricane Irma on the Silver Rice Rat" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.678.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 08, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 15, 2018 THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD TO A SINGLE SOURCE ANNOUNCEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS NOTICE.. (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 $1.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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