Evaluating Vegetation Growth Model with In Situ Experiments | W81EWF 20 SOI 0022

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 20 SOI 0022

The funding opportunity titled "Evaluating Vegetation Growth Model with In Situ Experiments" (Funding Opportunity Number W81EWF 20 SOI 0022) is a Department of Defense research effort managed through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is offered as a discretionary award using a cooperative agreement, which typically means the agency expects to be actively involved during the project (for example, providing technical direction, coordinating data needs, or helping align experimental outputs with modeling requirements). The program sits in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category under CFDA 12.630, indicating a defense-related R&D focus rather than a general environmental or conservation grant.

The core purpose of the project is to generate high-quality experimental data that can be used to evaluate and improve a vegetation growth model. The work centers on mesocosm experiments, meaning controlled, semi-realistic experimental systems that can mimic natural conditions while still allowing the researcher to precisely manipulate key drivers. In this case, the experiments must be designed to control flooding conditions and nutrient availability. These two factors are critical in wetlands, floodplains, and other water-influenced ecosystems where hydrology and nutrient loading strongly shape plant performance, community composition, and overall ecosystem productivity.

A major deliverable is detailed measurement of plant growth and development, with an emphasis on both aboveground productivity (such as stems, leaves, and shoots) and belowground productivity (such as roots and rhizomes). Collecting both components matters because many vegetation models struggle with how plants allocate biomass between shoots and roots under different stressors, particularly when flooding and nutrient conditions shift. The data from these experiments are intended to support evaluation of model parameters and to check biomass partitioning outputs, essentially testing whether the model is distributing predicted growth into the right plant compartments under the tested environmental conditions.

Another defining feature of the work is the inclusion of mixed-species plantings rather than only single-species trials. The project calls for varying plant species grown together, explicitly including combinations of native and non-native species. The goal here is to explore competitive effects on growth, which can be a major source of uncertainty in modeling. Competition can change growth rates, resource uptake, and biomass allocation patterns, and it can also influence which species dominate under certain flooding and nutrient regimes. By incorporating native and non-native species interactions, the project can generate evidence relevant to invasion dynamics and management questions, while also making model evaluation more realistic for field applications where plant communities are rarely monocultures.

In terms of funding and timing, the opportunity listed an award ceiling of $50,000 with an expectation of one award. The opportunity was created on May 8, 2020, and originally closed on June 29, 2020. Eligibility was listed broadly as "Others," with additional clarification referenced in the full eligibility text (not included in the excerpt), which often means the sponsor may consider a range of applicants such as universities, nonprofit research organizations, private entities, or other qualified institutions depending on the specific solicitation language. Overall, the opportunity is a small, targeted research award aimed at producing experimentally grounded datasets that directly support calibration and validation of vegetation growth modeling, especially under controlled flooding, nutrient variability, and interspecies competition scenarios.

• The Department of Defense, Dept. of the Army -- Corps of Engineers in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Evaluating Vegetation Growth Model with In Situ Experiments" 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 May 08, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 29, 2020. (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 $50,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for W81EWF 20 SOI 0022

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