GLNF CESU: Understanding Native Bee Diversity and Distribution in Great Lakes National Parks- GLRI | NPS NOIP20AC00366

Opportunity Information: Apply for NPS NOIP20AC00366

The grant opportunity titled "GLNF CESU: Understanding Native Bee Diversity and Distribution in Great Lakes National Parks - GLRI" is a National Park Service (Department of the Interior) cooperative agreement focused on improving what is known about native bee communities across Great Lakes national parks. The project is grounded in the broader ecological reality that insect pollination is essential for plant reproduction, with the opportunity description noting that roughly 90 percent of flowering plant species depend on insect pollination. Within that context, native bees are highlighted as both highly effective pollinators in the Great Lakes basin and also among the most imperiled pollinator groups, creating an urgent need for better data to guide conservation and park management decisions.

At its core, the project aims to expand understanding of native bee status, distribution, habitat associations, and habitat needs within several Great Lakes national parks. Although the Great Lakes Basin supports hundreds of native bee species, the opportunity emphasizes that their local distributions and management requirements are still poorly understood. The grant is designed to address that gap by supporting field surveys and specimen-based inventory work across a variety of park habitats. By sampling bees across different habitat types, the project is intended to reveal where species occur, which environments they rely on, and how bee communities vary across landscapes that differ in vegetation, land use history, and restoration status.

A central deliverable of the work is the identification and curation of collected bee specimens. Specimens gathered during surveys will be identified to species, or to the lowest possible taxonomic level, by expert bee taxonomists at the University of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota will also maintain a specimen-level database that includes collection and identification information, creating a structured dataset that can be used for analysis, long-term reference, and future monitoring. The National Park Service and the project recipient are expected to collaborate on analyzing the resulting data, which implies joint interpretation aimed at answering management-relevant questions rather than simply compiling a species list.

The intended outcomes go beyond academic knowledge. The opportunity explicitly connects the research to practical conservation and restoration decisions in the Great Lakes Basin by helping identify locations where habitat management, restoration, or conservation could produce the greatest benefits for native bee species. In other words, the surveys and resulting datasets are meant to help parks and regional partners prioritize actions, such as targeted restoration or habitat protection, based on evidence of bee diversity, rarity, or habitat dependence. The project is also framed as complementary to existing National Park Service inventorying and monitoring efforts, suggesting that it will integrate with ongoing programs and provide baseline information that can be revisited in future assessments.

The funding mechanism is a discretionary cooperative agreement with an award ceiling of $150,000 and an expectation of one award. Eligible applicants are limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, and the work is associated with CFDA number 15.945. The opportunity was created on March 23, 2020, with an original closing date of April 2, 2020. Finally, the project places strong emphasis on public benefit and transparency: results are expected to be published and made publicly available, ensuring that both the scientific community and resource managers gain access to new information about native bee biodiversity, distribution patterns, and conservation needs in Great Lakes national parks.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the agriculture, community development, education, employment, labor and training, environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "GLNF CESU: Understanding Native Bee Diversity and Distribution in Great Lakes National Parks- GLRI" 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 Mar 23, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 02, 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 $150,000.00 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.

Apply for NPS NOIP20AC00366

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