Department of the Interior Grant: Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) for Phenology Monitoring Technical Assistance

Federal Program: Department of the Interior, United States (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge System, Natural Resource Program Center

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 15.678

Authorizing Legislation: Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, 16 U.S.C. §§661-666; Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §1531 et seq.; Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. §2901 et seq.; Fish and Wildlife Act, 16 U.S.C. §742 et seq.; Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 16 U.S.C §703 et seq.; Coastal Barrier Resources Act, 16 U.S.C. §3501 et seq.; and Public Lands Corps Act – Public Lands Corps, 16 U.S.C. §§1721-1726.

This is a Notice of Intent to award an incrementally funded Single Source Cooperative Agreement to the Arizona Board of Regents, University of Arizona, USA National Phenology Network (NPN), School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona for the purpose of using Nature¿s Notebook to help integrate existing phenological datasets from stations into the National Phenology Database, Nature’s Notebook, and provide assistance to individual refuges to help them adjust their current data collection method to the USA-NPN phenology protocols for future monitoring. The tasks to be performed under this agreement are as follows:

1. Continued support of existing regional projects generally focusing in three Service priority areas of interest: Middle Rio Grande (Bosque) ecosystem, Mississippi River corridor for Mayflies, and Monarch Butterfly central flyway. These areas provide the FWS an opportunity to combine Service data with off-station data to better understand climate change impacts across large-scale areas, ecosystems, and FWS units rather than in isolation.

2. Integrate existing phenological datasets from Refuges into the National Phenology Database. Work with individual Refuges to help them adjust their current data collection method to the USA-NPN’s phenology protocols for future monitoring.

3. Create interactive Phenology Trail Dashboards, including dynamically updating visualizations to allow Refuges to compare phenology between Refuges and non-Refuge sites. These Dashboards will be hosted on the USFWS Phenology Network website and will build upon the current Refuge Dashboards for individual refuges.

4. Provide training to Refuge staff on how to participate in Nectar Connectors (www.usanpn.org/nn/NectarConnectors) – a platform for monitoring leafing of milkweed and flowering of nectar plants in areas planted to support monarchs.

5. Convene focus groups to determine how Refuges can incorporate phenology monitoring with Nature’s Notebook into existing monitoring activities. Educate Refuge staff on example uses of phenology data collected through Nature’s Notebook.

6. Leverage the USA-NPN’s program planning process to provide guidance to FWS on how to create Site-level Protocols for phenology monitoring. Award one CESU agreement, in which the Service will be substantially involved by actively engaging in the overall design, analyses, and writing of the regional phenology monitoring efforts and the assessment of biological response to environmental change on Refuges. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will be substantially involved in projects under this funding opportunity. In particular the Service will be responsible for the following: 

Oversight of the design and execution of the regional phenology citizen science projects.

Provide NPN with clear goals, needs, and list of desired specifications for database, project website, mobile applications and (animal) data products.

Provide guidance about selecting focal species, adopting and possibly adapting data collection protocols, and developing web-based and mobile tools for data collections and project support.

Provide guidance on where and when to convene the various focus groups.

Provide guidance and input on training and development of dashboards. 

Co-author on manuscripts entailing the results of environmental change assessments analysis that will follow the model USA-NPN developed for the U.S. National Park Service (NPS).

The anticipated period of performance of this award is February 20, 2019 through January 31, 2023.

This is a Notice of Intent to award an incrementally funded Single Source Cooperative Agreement to the Arizona Board of Regents, University of Arizona, USA National Phenology Network (NPN), School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona for the purpose of using Nature¿s Notebook to help integrate existing phenological datasets from stations into the National Phenology Database, Nature¿s Notebook, and provide assistance to individual refuges to help them adjust their current data collection method to the USA-NPN phenology protocols for future monitoring.

The tasks to be performed under this agreement are as follows:
1. Continued support of existing regional projects generally focusing in three Service priority areas of interest: Middle Rio Grande (Bosque) ecosystem, Mississippi River corridor for Mayflies, and Monarch Butterfly central flyway. These areas provide the FWS an opportunity to combine Service data with off-station data to better understand climate change impacts across large-scale areas, ecosystems, and FWS units rather than in isolation.
2. Integrate existing phenological datasets from Refuges into the National Phenology Database. Work with individual Refuges to help them adjust their current data collection method to the USA-NPN¿s phenology protocols for future monitoring.
3. Create interactive Phenology Trail Dashboards, including dynamically updating visualizations to allow Refuges to compare phenology between Refuges and non-Refuge sites. These Dashboards will be hosted on the USFWS Phenology Network website and will build upon the current Refuge Dashboards for individual refuges.
4. Provide training to Refuge staff on how to participate in Nectar Connectors (www.usanpn.org/nn/NectarConnectors) – a platform for monitoring leafing of milkweed and flowering of nectar plants in areas planted to support monarchs.
5. Convene focus groups to determine how Refuges can incorporate phenology monitoring with Nature¿s Notebook into existing monitoring activities. Educate Refuge staff on example uses of phenology data collected through Nature¿s Notebook.
6. Leverage the USA-NPN¿s program planning process to provide guidance to FWS on how to create Site-level Protocols for phenology monitoring.

Award one CESU agreement, in which the Service will be substantially involved by actively engaging in the overall design, analyses, and writing of the regional phenology monitoring efforts and the assessment of biological response to environmental change on Refuges. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will be substantially involved in projects under this funding opportunity. In particular the Service will be responsible for the following:
¿ Oversight of the design and execution of the regional phenology citizen science projects.
¿ Provide NPN with clear goals, needs, and list of desired specifications for database, project website, mobile applications and (animal) data products.
¿ Provide guidance about selecting focal species, adopting and possibly adapting data collection protocols, and developing web-based and mobile tools for data collections and project support.
¿ Provide guidance on where and when to convene the various focus groups.
¿ Provide guidance and input on training and development of dashboards.
¿ Co-author on manuscripts entailing the results of environmental change assessments analysis that will follow the model USA-NPN developed for the U.S. National Park Service (NPS).

The anticipated period of performance of this award is February 20, 2019 through January 31, 2023.