Willamette Valley Prairie Pollinator Studies | W81EWF 22 SOI 0012

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 22 SOI 0012

The Willamette Valley Prairie Pollinator Studies opportunity is a Department of Defense (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Engineer Research and Development Center) cooperative agreement focused on understanding prairie pollinators and their relationships with rare and conservation-dependent plants in the Willamette Valley and the broader Willamette Valley-Puget Trough region. The work is designed to support practical management and restoration decisions on Corps-managed prairies and nearby sites by building a clearer picture of which pollinators are present, how they interact with native plants, and how those interactions change across seasons, locations, and management approaches. The grant anticipates up to two awards, with an award ceiling of $95,000 per award, under a discretionary, science and technology research and development category (CFDA 12.630). The original funding notice was created March 17, 2022, with an original closing date of May 18, 2022.

A major emphasis of the project is field inventory and specimen-based documentation of prairie pollinator communities across multiple sites. The notice highlights possible additional inventory work at Fern Ridge, an initial inventory at valley fringe prairies around Dorena Lake, and surveys at other regional prairie locations. Applicants are expected to build on any existing collections by resolving specimens to species, then design and conduct additional sampling to fill gaps in coverage. Where traditional identification is uncertain or needs verification, the opportunity supports the use of DNA bar-coding. The program also places importance on creating lasting scientific products: specimens collected through the work are expected to be accessioned into regional collections, results are expected to be published, and duplicate reference material should be provided to Corps biologists so that future monitoring and identification work can be anchored to verified reference specimens. One stated endpoint is contributing to or producing a published pollinator fauna for Willamette Valley-Puget Trough prairies in collaboration with an established regional repository such as the Oregon State Arthropod Collection.

Beyond listing species, the opportunity is explicitly about ecological relationships and network structure. A central research theme is the analysis of pollinator networks and how those networks vary within and between seasons, among sites, and under different management regimes. The work can include pollen identification and landscape-level tracking of pollen loads to determine what plants pollinators are actually using, not just where they are observed. This is meant to help answer questions such as which pollinators are the primary visitors and likely effective pollinators for rare prairie plants, what proportions of pollen carried by those insects come from the rare focal species versus other plants, and which alternative floral resources pollinators depend on before, during, and after the flowering windows of rare species. These questions matter directly for restoration planning, because they can reveal whether a rare plant is supported by a broad suite of generalist pollinators or depends on a smaller set of partners, and whether the surrounding plant community is providing the seasonal resources needed to keep pollinator populations present on the landscape.

The opportunity places special attention on rare and conservation-dependent prairie plants and on whether reproduction is limited by pollination. It specifically mentions in-depth study of pollen limitation and plant response to pollinator communities for species such as Willamette daisy (Erigeron decumbens), Kincaid's lupine, and golden paintbrush, along with more common native prairie matrix species that structure the broader plant community. By pairing plant reproduction measures with pollinator community data, the work can test whether low seed set or poor recruitment in rare plant populations is tied to insufficient visitation, ineffective pollination, or broader habitat conditions affecting pollinator availability. There is also room for applied experiments, including the use of nursery-cultivated native plants or targeted habitat manipulation, which could allow researchers and managers to test interventions aimed at improving pollinator support and, in turn, rare plant population performance.

A further goal is to understand how pollinator communities and plant-pollinator networks respond to both management and climate variability. The notice highlights evaluation of responses to habitat management actions such as prescribed fire and herbicide application, as well as responses to unusual weather extremes. The intent is to connect observed responses to expectations under climate change for these prairie systems, including how shifting conditions might alter timing, community composition, and the stability of pollination networks. Additional comparative angles are encouraged, such as comparing pollinator relationships at remnant versus restored sites, comparing Corps rare plant sites with other jurisdictions, and linking pollinator community metrics to common measures of prairie health. The opportunity also leaves open the possibility of more mechanistic work on pollinator effectiveness, including quantifying the reproductive contribution of individual pollinator species or even single visits, and potentially using newer tools such as eDNA methods to support effectiveness studies.

Taken together, the solicitation is asking for a project that combines rigorous biodiversity inventory with network ecology and applied conservation research. The expected outcome is not just a list of pollinators, but a defensible, specimen-backed understanding of who the pollinators are, how they move pollen among prairie plants, what the seasonal resource dependencies look like, and how management actions and climate variability may strengthen or disrupt the interactions that rare prairie plants rely on for successful reproduction.

• The Department of Defense, Engineer Research and Development Center in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Willamette Valley Prairie Pollinator Studies" 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 Mar 17, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 18, 2022. (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 $95,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for W81EWF 22 SOI 0012

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