Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands Landscape Conservation Cooperative FY15

The USFWS is seeking proposals on behalf of the Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands Landscape Conservation Cooperative hereafter shown as ABSI LCC. The Mission of the ABSI LCC is to promote coordination, dissemination, and development of applied science to inform conservation of natural and cultural resources in the face of climate change and other landscape scale stressors. This Notice of Funding Availability has multiple Topics. For each the following topics we envision research efforts will primary consist of syntheses and modelling based on existing data and/or climate projections but we are also interested in possible proposals involving field research if leveraging of that existing work sufficiently addresses one or more of our topics. The following four topic areas have been identified by the ABSI Steering Committee as key information needs for managers and communities in the ABSI region relative to climate change: Topic 1: We are interested in an evaluation of how climate change might disrupt trophic function important for key prey species of importance to marine mammals. We are specifically interested in an exploration of shifts in timing and spatial distribution of primary and secondary productivity in areas important to marine mammal species. Topic 2: We want to understand how climate change might facilitate the expansion of parasites, diseases, or other pathogens in marine species important to human communities within the ABSI region. We are interested in syntheses, modelling, projections, etc. that specifically identify climatic thresholds (e.g., ocean temperatures or sea ice extent) that define the ranges of pathogens and the potential for those ranges to change or expand given future projected conditions. We are particularly interested in projects in this topic area that focus on pathogens that affect marine species important to subsistence harvest practices and human health in the region. Topic 3: We want to understand the potential negative effects of climate change on body condition of young of the year for key fish species (e.g., commercial and/or subsistence target species). Specifically, we are interested in syntheses of existing bioenergetics data (e.g., weight vs. fork length, calorimetric or fat content measures, etc.) and analysis of these given projections (hindcasts and/or forecasts) of climate variables to better understand potential climate change effects on recruitment. Topic 4: We want to understand which seabird species might be most vulnerable to changes in prey abundance as a result of climate change effects on trophic function. Specifically, we are interested in a quantitative index of sensitivity to changes in forage abundance and timing that can be applied to seabird species in region. We imagine relevant variables to include things like body mass, cost of foraging, foraging ranges, ability to dive, activity budgets, potential for prey switching, etc. evaluated at the individual species level.