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Background: Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri) is a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It shares many similarities with a common species, Fendler's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. fendleri) and with many intermediates. This has caused confusion for land managers. The BLM management of Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus impacts the multiple uses (i.e. public land users) across the landscape as it restricts land management decisions in order to conserve the imperiled species. Currently, there is no information on the genetic differences of the Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus, the Fendler's Hedgehog Cactus, and intermediaries. Without this information it is difficult to determine importance of populations in order to prioritize recovery actions to enable the species to be de-listed. The use of the most current genetic methods for defining species, plastome sequencing, microsatellite development and genotyping, and ddRAD sequencing is needed to accurately determine whether the two species and associated intermediates are in fact the same. If studies show there are two different varieties it will be important to understand how the different Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus populations are related to each other across the landscape. This information can help the BLM prioritize populations according to rarity of the element occurrences. The objective of this project is to determine the genetic differences and similarities between Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus (all known element occurrences), Fendler's Hedgehog Cactus, and associated intermediates as well as the differences in population structure of the element occurrences of Kuenzler Hedgehog Cactus across the landscape in order to assist with land management decisions and potential de-listing of the species.

The Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Region of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is offering a cooperative agreement for the study Understanding Biological Connectivity Among Offshore Structures and Natural Reefs to test hypotheses on biological connectivity among artificial and natural habitats using genetic markers.This award will utilize genetic analyses to test hypotheses of connectivity and understand how connectivity may influence non-indigenous species (NIS).The total anticipated amount of available funding is approximately $800,000 subject to the availability of funds. The anticipated period of performance will be from fiscal year (FY) 2019 through FY 2024. BOEM anticipates making one cooperative agreement award in FY 2019 for one proposal submitted under this Program Announcement. Work performance under these awards must start before October 1, 2019, and the proposed work must be completed no later than 48 months from the start date.This announcement is specifically to announce intent to undertake the following project(s): Understanding Biological Connectivity Among Offshore Structures and Natural Reefs Open to: University of California, Santa Barbara No other proposals are requested at this time. The award will be a cooperative agreement (see Eligibility Information below). This involves substantial involvement by BOEM scientists in various aspects of study development and/or study conduct.

The objectives of this Agreement are to improve the resilience of once-forested areas under warming and drying climate by collecting seeds from trees located in BAND that appear to drought-resistant, propagating those seeds, and planting seedlings that are within the natural range of variability for the biophysical setting of BAND, but may be better suited to the warmer drier site; and to conduct research that will inform future restoration projects in post-burned areas. In accordance with Section 4.4.2.2 of MP2006, the genetic type used in these plantings would approximate the extirpated genetic type because all of the seeds will have been collected from within BAND and the seedlings will be planted within the natural range of variability for those species. Replanting would occur on sites severely burned during recent human-caused wildfires in BAND. These fires have burned with uncharacteristic severity, the extent of which is far outside the range of historical variability. Recovery along a natural successional pathway is impeded by the extent of the high-severity patches.

The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and socio-ecological principles and processes that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of reservoir species or hosts; the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of disease transmission. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric diseases of either terrestrial or freshwater systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to develop the appropriate multidisciplinary team, including for example, modelers, bioinformaticians, genomics researchers, social scientists, economists, epidemiologists, entomologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, bacteriologists, virologists, pathologists or veterinarians, with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and socio-ecological principles and processes that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of reservoir species or hosts; the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of disease transmission. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric diseases of either terrestrial or freshwater systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to develop the appropriate multidisciplinary team, including for example, modelers, bioinformaticians, genomics researchers, social scientists, economists, epidemiologists, entomologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, bacteriologists, virologists, pathologists or veterinarians, with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

The purpose of this program is for the BLM and its partner to work cooperative to enhance understanding of rangeland resources and ecological processes that are the basis of healthy rangeland by using next generation genetic sequencing and molecular analysis coupled with common garden experiments to better understand local seed adaption and identify the most successful seed types and the most cost effective treatments in order to reduce the need to repeat treatments of rangeland impacted by wild land fire, grazing, invasive species establishment, and drought.

The purpose of the BRAG program is to support the generation of new information that will assist Federal regulatory agencies in making science-based decisions about the effects of introducing into the environment genetically engineered organisms (GE), including plants, microorganisms - such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses - arthropods, fish, birds, mammals and other animals excluding humans. Investigations of effects on both managed and natural environments are relevant. The BRAG program accomplishes its purpose by providing federal regulatory agencies with scientific information relevant to regulatory issues

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support research using population-based model organism resources for environmental health science and toxicology questions. This FOA is particularly interested in the interplay between environment, genetics, and epigenetics and the identification and understanding of host susceptibility to environmental exposures, relevant to human disease outcomes.

The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and socio-ecological principles and processes that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of reservoir species or hosts; the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of disease transmission. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric diseases of either terrestrial or freshwater systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to develop the appropriate multidisciplinary team, including for example, modelers, bioinformaticians, genomics researchers, social scientists, economists, epidemiologists, entomologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, bacteriologists, virologists, pathologists or veterinarians, with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

The purpose of the Aquaculture Research program is to support the development of an environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture industry in the U.S. and generate new science-based information and innovation to address industry constraints. Over the long term, results of projects supported by this program may help improve the profitability of the U.S. aquaculture industry, reduce the U.S. trade deficit, increase domestic food security, provide markets for U.S.-produced grain products, increase domestic aquaculture business investment opportunities, and provide more jobs for rural and coastal America. The Aquaculture Research program will fund projects that directly address major constraints to the U.S. aquaculture industry and focus on one or more of the following program priorities: (1) Genetics of commercial aquaculture species. (2) Critical disease issues impacting aquaculture species. (3) Design of environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture production systems. (4) Economic research for increasing aquaculture profitability.

This campaign promotes novel integrative approaches to fill the most substantial gaps in our understanding of the diversity of life on Earth. It takes a broad view of biodiversity, and focuses on the intersection of genetic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions of biodiversity. Successful proposals must integrate these three dimensions to understand interactions and feedbacks between and among them. While this focus complements several core programs in BIO, it differs by requiring that multiple dimensions of biodiversity be addressed simultaneously, in novel ways, to understand their synergistic roles in critical ecological and evolutionary processes, especially pertaining to the mechanisms driving the origin, maintenance, and functional roles of biodiversity.

The purpose of the BRAG program is to support the generation of new information that will assist Federal regulatory agencies in making science-based decisions about the effects of introducing into the environment genetically engineered organisms (GE), including plants, microorganisms (including fungi, bacteria, and viruses), arthropods, fish, birds, mammals and other animals excluding humans. Investigations of effects on both managed and natural environments are relevant. The BRAG program accomplishes its purpose by providing Federal regulatory agencies with scientific information relevant to regulatory issues. 

The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and socio-ecological principles and processes that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of reservoir species or hosts; or the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of disease transmission. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric diseases of either terrestrial or freshwater systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to involve the public health research community, including for example, epidemiologists, physicians, veterinarians, food scientists, social scientists, entomologists, pathologists, virologists, or parasitologists with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

The overarching goal of the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (BCERP) is to support integrated scientific research to enhance our knowledge of environmental and genetic factors underlying breast cancer risk. This funding opportunity will support transdisciplinary research projects to investigate the influence of environmental exposures during specific time windows of susceptibility on breast cancer risk. Applicants must propose transdisciplinary research project that addresses one or more potential windows of susceptibility and facilitates the integration of experimental model and human studies to accelerate understanding of the contribution of environmental factors to breast cancer risk, the underlying mechanisms, and potential prevention strategies. Applications must also include community-academic partnerships with defined community engagement activities.

For fiscal year (FY) 2015, BRDI will require that funded projects address only one (1) of the following three (3) legislatively mandated technical areas: 1. Feedstocks development - The intent of this Topic Area is to address research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities regarding feedstocks and feedstock logistics (including harvest, handling, transport, preprocessing, and storage) relevant to production of raw materials for conversion to biofuels and biobased products. The BRDI program is designed to support near-term commercial systems. Projects should emphasize development and optimization of existing feedstocks that will be available for testing and demonstration during the life of the project. Proposals that include breeding or genetic improvement of feedstocks should reconcile this work with the Program's emphasis on near-term impacts. 2. Biofuels and biobased products development - The intent of this Topic Area is to address RD&D activities to support (i) development of diverse cost-effective technologies for the use of cellulosic biomass in the production of biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased products; and, (ii) product diversification through technologies relevant to the production of a range of biobased products (including chemicals, animal feeds, and cogeneration power) that potentially can increase the feasibility of fuel production in a biorefinery. 3. Biofuels development analysis - The intent of this Topic Area is to apply systems evaluation methods that can be used to optimize system performance and market potential and to quantify the project's impact on sustainability; therefore, successful applications will consider the lifecycle (cradle-to-grave) impacts including environmental, social, and economic implications that are attributable to the project. Successful projects should include these sustainability data in engineering process models and be used over the life of the project to improve the system and quantify sust

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is intended to support research projects to enhance our understanding of the nature, extent, distribution, etiology, comorbidities, and consequences of drug use, abuse, and addiction across individuals, families, communities, and diverse population groups. This FOA strongly encourages applications that reflect the breadth of epidemiology research by addressing multiple levels of risk, resilience, and causation across scientific disciplines; by applying novel methods to advance knowledge of the interplay among genetic, environmental, and developmental factors and between social environments and associated health and disease outcomes; and by building on the research investments of NIH and sister HHS agencies to harness existing data on the epidemiology and etiology of drug abuse to improve public health prevention and treatment programs.

The purpose of the SCRI program is to address the critical needs of the specialty crop industry by awarding grants to support research and extension that address key challenges of national, regional, and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of food and agriculture, including conventional and organic food production systems. Projects must address at least one of five focus areas: Research in plant breeding, genetics, genomics, and other methods to improve crop characteristics; Efforts to identify and address threats from pests and diseases, including threats to specialty crop pollinators; Efforts to improve production efficiency, handling and processing, productivity, and profitability over the long term (including specialty crop policy and marketing); new innovations and technology, including improved mechanization and technologies that delay or inhibit ripening; and methods to prevent, detect, monitor, control, and respond to potential food safety hazards in the production efficiency, handling and processing of specialty crops.

The purpose of the BRAG program is to support the generation of new information that will assist Federal regulatory agencies in making science-based decisions about the effects of introducing into the environment genetically engineered organisms (GE), including plants, microorganisms (including fungi, bacteria, and viruses), arthropods, fish, birds, mammals and other animals excluding humans.

Despite centuries of discovery, most of our planet's biodiversity remains unknown. The scale of Earth's unknown diversity is especially troubling given the rapid and permanent loss of biodiversity across the globe. The goal of the Dimensions of Biodiversity campaign is to transform how we describe and understand the scope and role of life on Earth. This campaign promotes novel integrative approaches to fill the most substantial gaps in our understanding of the diversity of life on Earth. It takes a broad view of biodiversity, and focuses on the intersection of genetic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions of biodiversity. Successful proposals must integrate these three dimensions to understand interactions among them. While this focus complements several core programs in BIO, it differs by requiring that multiple dimensions of biodiversity be addressed simultaneously, in novel ways, to understand their synergistic roles in critical ecological and evolutionary processes, especially pertaining

To further the conservation and management of natural resources managed by the BLM through the application of land restoration techniques, assessment and monitoring. Assist BLM California State botanist with strategic seed collections that complement the standard Seeds of Success program by matching experienced botanists familiar with seed collection and native plant propagation with BLM district and Field personnel to increase collection quality, efficiency and consistency.Provide support in helping to identify plant materials that lend themselves to successful propagation and providing plant material production skills. Provide genetically appropriate seed and plant material for seed increase and planting at restoration sites.

The purpose of the SCRI program is to address the critical needs of the specialty crop industry by awarding grants to support research and extension that address key challenges of national, regional, and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of food and agriculture, including conventional and organic food production systems. Projects must address at least one of five focus areas: Research in plant breeding, genetics, genomics, and other methods to improve crop characteristics Efforts to identify and address threats from pests and diseases, including threats to specialty crop pollinators Efforts to improve production efficiency, handling and processing, productivity, and profitability over the long term (including specialty crop policy and marketing) New innovations and technology, including improved mechanization and technologies that delay or inhibit ripening Methods to prevent, detect, monitor, control, and respond to potential food safety hazards in the production efficiency,handling and processing of specialty crops.