: Implementing the Avian Monitoring Protocol for the National Park Service Units of the National Capital Region Network | P18AS00343

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00343

The grant opportunity titled "Implementing the Avian Monitoring Protocol for the National Park Service Units of the National Capital Region Network" is a National Park Service (NPS) cooperative agreement focused on carrying out a standardized breeding land bird monitoring program across national parks in the National Capital Region Network (NCRN). Breeding land birds have been designated a high-priority "vital sign" for NCRN resource monitoring, and the monitoring protocol referenced (Dawson and Efford 2014) provides the consistent methods needed to track bird communities over time. The work is intended to strengthen the NPS ability to evaluate park ecosystem condition and to give park managers practical, decision-ready information about breeding bird populations, with particular attention to how those communities reflect broader habitat health.

The project builds on a long-standing collaboration that began in 2007 between the University of Delaware and NCRN. Implementation is planned across eleven NPS units: Antietam National Battlefield (ANTI), Catoctin Mountain Park (CATO), Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (CHOH), George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP), Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (HAFE), Manassas National Battlefield Park (MANA), Monocacy National Battlefield Park (MONO), National Capital Parks-East (NACE), Prince William Forest Park (PRWI), Rock Creek Park (ROCR), and Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (WOTR). By applying the same monitoring approach across this network of parks, the program can produce comparable data that help identify patterns and changes at both individual-park and regional scales.

The central purposes of the agreement are threefold. First, it aims to initiate (and continue) implementation of the NCRN Land Bird Monitoring protocol in these parks, ensuring consistent field data collection for breeding birds. Second, it calls for development of analyses organized around breeding bird guilds associated with forest and grassland habitats. These guild-based analyses are meant to feed into "integrity reporting" for the respective habitats, meaning the bird data can be used as indicators of habitat condition, stressors, and ecological change. Third, the project explicitly includes an implementation-planning component: determining overall costs of carrying out the protocol and producing recommendations to make the monitoring more efficient and cost-effective over time.

In practical terms, the monitoring is designed to track both status and trends of breeding birds, meaning it is not limited to a one-time inventory. The intent is to generate long-term, repeatable information that increases basic knowledge of bird populations in NCRN parks, covering species associated with both forested and grassland landscapes. This is important because breeding bird communities often respond to habitat fragmentation, invasive species, canopy change, altered disturbance regimes, and surrounding land use pressures. With trend data in hand, managers can better anticipate and interpret the effects of land use changes and other stressors, particularly on sensitive forest breeding bird populations, and then use those insights to support management decisions and conservation actions.

Administratively, this opportunity is listed as a discretionary funding action by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under CFDA 15.945, categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial involvement by the federal agency in coordination, technical direction, or shared responsibilities during the project. Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, and the notice specifies that this is not an open request for applications. Instead, it is a notice of intent to make a single expected award to the University of Delaware, with an award ceiling of $63,045. The notice also notes that the agreement had been previously competed under Cooperative Agreement P18AC00228, suggesting this action continues or extends an established, competitively selected partnership.

Finally, beyond park management benefits, the agreement is also positioned as an academic and workforce-development support mechanism. It is intended to stimulate and support undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral research at the University of Delaware, meaning the monitoring effort doubles as a training and research platform while delivering applied outcomes for the National Park Service.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled ": Implementing the Avian Monitoring Protocol for the National Park Service Units of the National Capital Region Network" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 19, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 29, 2018 This is not a request for application. This is a notice of intent to make an award to the University of Delaware. This Agreement was previously competed through Cooperative Agreement P18AC00228.. (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 $63,045.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

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