Developing Predictive Capacity ot Support Adaptive Management Strategies for Mountain Goats | P18AS00160

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00160

The National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior) issued this discretionary grant opportunity as a cooperative agreement to strengthen the ability of managers to anticipate how mountain goats will respond to changing environmental conditions in and around Glacier National Park. The central aim is to build predictive capacity that links mountain goat population performance and where goats occur on the landscape to year-to-year variation in climate, snowpack, and vegetation dynamics across alpine habitats. Although Glacier National Park is the focal area, the work is intended to be relevant to neighboring alpine environments on adjacent state, federal, and tribal lands where mountain goats are present, supporting coordination across jurisdictional boundaries.

The project is structured around connecting several layers of ecological information so managers can move from observing conditions to forecasting outcomes. One core objective is to quantify how key demographic rates and indicators of animal health vary with environmental conditions. Specifically, the opportunity calls for relating parturition (birth) rates, kid survival, and yearling survival to annual measures of climate and snowpack, as well as productivity and phenology (seasonal timing of green-up, peak growth, and senescence) of vegetation in important summer habitats. In parallel, it emphasizes body condition indices such as growth patterns and/or body mass for adult females and young animals, with the intent of understanding when and why goats enter winter or reproductive periods in better or worse condition.

A second major objective centers on nutrition as the mechanism tying habitat conditions to demographic performance. The opportunity seeks work that relates assimilated nutrition in mountain goats (what goats actually take in and can use, not just what is available) to vegetation productivity and phenology. In practice, this frames the question as more than simply whether forage is present; it is about whether the timing, quality, and quantity of forage aligns with goats' energetic needs and life-history stages, and how mismatches might translate into reduced survival or reproduction.

The third objective focuses on building the environmental side of the predictive chain by connecting vegetation and snow conditions to broader climatic drivers. This means documenting and modeling how yearly climatic conditions influence snow distribution and persistence, and how those snow and climate patterns in turn shape vegetation productivity and phenological timing. This component is meant to help managers interpret goat responses in the context of climate variability and longer-term trends, including how snowpack and melt timing can govern access to forage and influence the length and quality of the summer growing season in alpine zones.

The final objective addresses where goats are on the landscape and how that use relates to risk, particularly mortality. The opportunity calls for documenting habitat use at fine spatial scales during summer and at coarser scales during winter. The seasonal contrast reflects practical and ecological realities: summer habitat use can often be mapped in detail and is closely tied to foraging opportunities, while winter patterns may be broader and constrained by snow conditions, terrain, and access to wind-scoured or otherwise lower-snow areas. By pairing habitat use with an understanding of mortality patterns and likely sources of mortality, the project is intended to illuminate when and where goats face the highest risks, and how those risks shift with environmental conditions.

Administratively, the opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number P18AS00160 and was offered under CFDA 15.945 in the Natural Resources category. It was limited to eligible applicants that are public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, reflecting an expectation of research capacity and collaboration with the Park Service under a cooperative agreement framework. The posting date was April 16, 2018, with an original closing date of April 25, 2018. The agency anticipated making one award, with an award ceiling of $54,003. Overall, the announcement describes a tightly focused applied research effort designed to translate climate, snow, and vegetation information into practical forecasts of mountain goat condition, survival, reproduction, and seasonal distribution that can be used to support adaptive management decisions.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Developing Predictive Capacity ot Support Adaptive Management Strategies for Mountain Goats" 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 Apr 16, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 25, 2018. (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 $54,003.00 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 P18AS00160

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