[Federal Register: February 19, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 33)]
[Notices]
[Page 7737-7740]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19fe04-41]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice DE-FG01-
04ER04-14; Program for Ecosystem Research: Scaling Across Levels of
Biological Organization in Ecological Systems
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of
the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby
announces its interest in receiving applications for
[[Page 7738]]
grants for the Scaling Across Levels of Biological Organization in
Ecological Systems Initiative, a component of the BER Program for
Ecosystem Research (PER). Applications should describe research
projects to determine the theoretical and empirical bases of whether,
and how, information obtainable at the level of genomes and proteomes
of species or communities can be used to explain, and predict, effects
of environmental changes associated with energy production on the
structure and functioning of important ecosystems. The focus of
applications should be to: (1) Demonstrate a capability to collect
genomic, proteomic, and/or metabolomic data from within a terrestrial
ecosystem and then use that data to explain and/or predict observed
effects of controlled manipulations of temperature, soil moisture,
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and/or atmospheric ozone
concentration on the structure and functioning of the ecosystem, or (2)
advance the theoretical basis for scaling genomic and proteomic
information to higher levels of biological organization, ultimately to
the level of whole ecosystems.
All applications submitted in response to this Notice must
explicitly state how the proposed research will support accomplishment
of the BER Long Term Measure of Scientific Advancement to deliver
improved data and models to determine acceptable levels of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere.
DATES: Applicants are encouraged (but not required) to submit a 1-2
page preapplication for programmatic review. There is no deadline for
the preapplication, but early submission of preapplications is
encouraged to allow time for meaningful discussions.
Formal applications submitted in response to this Notice must be
received by 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time, April 29, 2004, to be accepted for
merit review and to permit timely consideration for award in Fiscal
Year 2004.
ADDRESSES: Preapplications referencing Notice DE-FG01-04ER04-14, should
be sent to Dr. Jeffrey S. Amthor, PER program manager, via e-mail to
jeff.amthor@science.doe.gov. Please include ``Preapplication Notice DE-
FG01-04ER04-14'' in the e-mail subject field.
Formal applications referencing Program Notice DE-FG01-04ER04-14,
must be sent electronically by an authorized institutional business
official through DOE's Industry Interactive Procurement System (IIPS)
at: http://e-center.doe.gov/. IIPS provides for the posting of
solicitations and receipt of applications in a paperless environment
via the Internet. In order to submit applications through IIPS, your
business official will need to register at the IIPS website. IIPS
offers the option of using multiple files, please limit submissions to
one volume and one file if possible, with a maximum of no more than
four PDF files. The Office of Science will include attachments as part
of this notice that provide the appropriate forms in PDF fillable
format that are to be submitted through IIPS. Color images should be
submitted in IIPS as a separate file in PDF format and identified as
such. These images should be kept to a minimum due to the limitations
of reproducing them. They should be numbered and referred to in the
body of the technical scientific grant application as Color image 1,
Color image 2, etc. Questions regarding the operation of IIPS may be E-
mailed to the IIPS Help Desk at: HelpDesk@pr.doe.gov, or you may call
the help desk at: (800) 683-0751. Further information on the use of
IIPS by the Office of Science is available at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html
.
If you are unable to submit an application through IIPS, please
contact the Grants and Contracts Division, Office of Science at: (301)
903-5212 or (301) 903-3604, in order to gain assistance for submission
through IIPS or to receive special approval and instructions on how to
submit printed applications.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Jeffrey S. Amthor, phone: (301)
903-2507; e-mail: jeff.amthor@science.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: Program for Ecosystem Research (PER) and the Scaling
Initiative
The PER mission is to measurably improve the scientific basis for
predicting or detecting effects of environmental changes associated
with energy production (i.e., global and regional changes in
atmospheric composition and related climatic changes) on terrestrial
ecosystems and their component organisms and processes. Terrestrial
ecosystems, their functions, and their components most valued by
society are of highest priority to the PER. The PER mission supports
the DOE Energy Strategic Goal ``to protect our national and economic
security by promoting a diverse supply and delivery of reliable,
affordable, and environmentally sound energy'' by contributing to the
science base needed to judge environmental implications of various
energy supply options.
The PER is intended to contribute specifically to the long-term BER
program goal of delivering data and models needed to determine
acceptable levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The PER's
contribution to this goal is carried out by quantifying cause-and-
effect relationships between environmental changes associated with
energy production (i.e., increased concentrations of greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere and related environmental changes) and the structure
and functioning of important terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding of
such relationships is important to a determination of acceptable levels
of greenhouse gases.
The theme defining PER objectives is mechanistic understanding and
quantification of effects of ongoing and potential future environmental
changes associated with energy production on whole ecosystems. Present
program emphasis is on effects of multiple (concurrent) environmental
changes, i.e., effects on ecosystems of combinations of changes in
atmospheric composition and/or climatic variables. Environmental
changes of key interest to the PER are: (1) Warming and changes in
diurnal, seasonal, and interannual temperature cycles; (2) changes in
precipitation and evapotranspiration (e.g., intensification of the
hydrologic cycle); and (3) increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and
(tropospheric) ozone concentrations. Specific PER objectives are to
improve scientific understanding of how and why (or if) terrestrial
ecosystems and their component organisms are affected by, and respond
to, multiple environmental changes, and how and why critical biological
and/or ecological processes in terrestrial ecosystems are controlled or
modified by multiple environmental changes.
The PER supports experimental research, (in the laboratory or field
as appropriate to individual research project objectives), and modeling
at both universities and government laboratories. The research and
modeling considers both, (either) direct and indirect effects of
environmental changes on terrestrial ecosystems, their components,
their processes, and their structures. Experimental research based on
underlying theory, and modeling that considers ecological hierarchies
(i.e., multi-level or mechanistic modeling), are foci of the PER.
Ecosystem responses to environmental changes of particular interest
include: (1) Adjustments at the ecosystem scale, such as changes in the
organized hierarchy of ecosystem processes, structures, biological
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diversity, and/or succession; and (2) adjustments at the organismal
scale that are manifested at the ecosystem scale, including
physiological, biochemical, and/or genetic changes that may facilitate
(or hinder) ecosystem homeostasis.
The goal of the new Scaling Across Levels of Biological
Organization in Ecological Systems Initiative is to determine the
theoretical and empirical bases of whether, and how, information
obtainable at the level of genomes and proteomes of species or
communities can be used to explain, and predict, effects of
environmental changes associated with energy production on the
structure and functioning of important ecosystems. This is a new
emphasis within PER and is intended to explicitly link ecosystem
research and modeling with the rapidly advancing capabilities being
developed in genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics.
Request for Grant Applications
This Notice requests grant applications for activities in support
of the goal of the Scaling Initiative as articulated above.
Specifically, research is sought to advance the following two areas:
(1) The uses of genomic, proteomic, and/or metabolomic measurements
and analyses to explain and/or predict effects of controlled changes in
temperature, soil moisture, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration,
and/or atmospheric ozone concentration on the structure and functioning
of ecosystems, or
(2) the theoretical and/or computational bases for scaling
information from the level of genomes, proteomes, and/or metabolomes to
higher levels of biological organization, ultimately to the level of
whole ecosystems.
Applications involving empirical studies (area (1) above) should
consider the use of existing manipulative field experiments as
platforms for research. (Requests for support for implementation or
maintenance of field manipulations of temperature, soil moisture,
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and/or atmospheric ozone
concentration will not be considered. Moreover, studies using natural
gradients of environmental factors, rather than controlled
manipulations, will not be considered.) In particular, applications
should propose to use existing field experiments to obtain new genomic,
proteomic, and/or metabolomic data and use that data and, if
appropriate, hierarchical theory of biological and ecological systems
to: (1) explain (previously) observed effects of the manipulation(s) of
temperature, soil moisture, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration,
and/or atmospheric ozone concentration on ecosystem-scale processes and
states (ecosystem structure and functioning); and/or (2) make
predictions based on theoretical models about changes in ecosystem
structure and/or functioning that can and will be tested with
observations and data at multiple scales within the range from the
genome of individual species to the entire ecosystem. Performance of
the ecosystem-scale observations and data analysis can be made a
component of the proposed research. A few laboratory (i.e., mesocosm or
microcosm) projects might be considered for funding, but it will be
critical for such projects to represent well the processes, structures,
and functioning of intact (actual) terrestrial ecosystems. Experimental
control of the same environmental variables (ozone concentration,
carbon dioxide concentration, soil moisture, and/or temperature) would
need to be included in laboratory projects.
Applications involving theoretical and modeling studies (area (2)
above) should concentrate on developing new theoretical models or
approaches to biological and ecological modeling. Such studies should
incorporate genomic, proteomic, and/or metabolomic data, along with
information on the associated biochemical and physiological mechanisms
and pathways that control and influence biological and ecological
processes, into hierarchical (multi-level) ecosystem models. The new
models or modeling approaches should enhance a capability to explain
and predict effects of environmental changes associated with energy
production on ecosystem structure and functioning. The use of existing
biological or ecological models to study or simulate biological or
ecological effects of environmental change, without clearly articulated
plans to improve the theoretical bases of scaling across multiple
levels of biological organization within such models, will not be
considered for support.
The focus of all applications should be on the advancement of the
theoretical and empirical bases for scaling information and data from
the genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic level of component species and
communities up through higher levels of biological organization within
ecosystems to explain the causal mechanisms and pathways that determine
whether and how effects of energy-related environmental changes are
manifested on the structure and functioning of an ecosystem.
All applications submitted in response to this Notice must
explicitly state how the proposed research will support accomplishment
of the BER Long Term Measure of Scientific Advancement to deliver
improved data and models to determine acceptable levels of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere. Applications failing to fulfill this criterion
will not be considered for funding.
Applications focusing primarily on plant or ecosystem carbon
exchange or carbon balance, or directed at carbon sequestration in
terrestrial ecosystems, are inappropriate for PER. Such applications
should be directed to the DOE BER Terrestrial Carbon Processes (TCP)
and Carbon Sequestration programs, respectively.
To enhance potential collaboration and synergism within the Scaling
Initiative and the larger PER, successful applicants will participate
in annual Investigator Meetings. Costs for such meetings should be
included in each application budget, and should be based on one trip of
5 days each year to Washington, DC, for all key personnel of each
project.
Program Funding
It is anticipated that about $2,400,000 will be available for
multiple awards in Fiscal Year 2004. Applications may request project
support for up to 3 years, with out-year support contingent on
availability of funds, progress of the research, and programmatic
needs. Annual budgets are expected to range from $100,000 to $500,000
total costs, unless there is prior approval from the Program Manager.
DOE may encourage collaboration among prospective investigators to
promote joint applications by using information obtained in the
preapplication or other forms of communication. DOE is under no
obligation to pay for any costs associated with preparation or
submission of applications.
Preapplications
A preapplication is strongly encouraged (but not required) prior to
submission of a full application. The preapplication should list the
Principal Investigator's name, institution, address, telephone number,
and E-mail address; title of the project; and proposed collaborators.
The preapplication should consist of a one to two page narrative
describing the research project objectives and methods of
accomplishment. These will be reviewed relative to the goals of the
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Scaling Across Levels of Biological Organization in Ecological Systems
Initiative. A response to each preapplication, discussing the potential
program relevance of a formal application, generally will be
communicated within 15 days of receipt. There is no deadline for the
submission of preapplications, but applicants should allow sufficient
time to meet the application deadline of April 29, 2004. Please note
that notification of a successful preapplication is not an indication
that an award will be made in response to the formal application.
Merit Review
Applications will be subjected to formal merit review (peer review)
and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria which
are listed in descending order of importance codified at 10 CFR
605.10(d):
1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project;
2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach;
3. Competency of Applicant's Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed
Resources;
4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.
The evaluation process will include program policy factors such as
the relevance of the proposed research to the terms of the announcement
and the agency's programmatic needs. Note, external peer reviewers are
selected with regard to both their scientific expertise and the absence
of conflict-of-interest issues. Both federal and non-federal reviewers
will often be used, and submission of an application constitutes
agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the
submitting institution.
Submission Information
Information about the development and submission of applications,
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other
policies and procedures may be found in the Application Guide for the
Office of Science Financial Assistance Program and 10 CFR Part 605.
Electronic access to SC's Financial Assistance Application Guide and
required forms is made available via the World Wide Web: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html
.
In addition, for this Notice, the research description must be 20
pages or less (10-point or larger font), including figures and tables
but excluding attachments, and must include a one-page summary of the
proposed project. The summary should appear on a separate page (page 1)
and must include the proposed-project title; name of the applicant and
the applicant's address, phone number, and e-mail address; names of any
co-investigators; and the proposed-project summary. Attachments should
include literature references cited in the research description,
curriculum vitae for each investigator (2-page maximum per
investigator), a listing of all current and pending federal support for
each investigator, and letters of intent when collaborations are part
of the proposed research.
For researchers who do not have access to the World Wide Web (WWW),
please contact Karen Carlson, Office of Biological and Environmental
Research, Climate Change Research Division, SC-74/Germantown Building,
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC
20585-1290, phone: (301) 903-3338, fax: (301) 903-8519, e-mail:
karen.carlson@science.doe.gov; for hard copies of background material
mentioned in this solicitation.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for this program
is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR part
605.
Issued in Washington, DC February 10, 2004.
Martin Rubinstein,
Acting Director, Grants and Contracts Division, Office of Science.
[FR Doc. 04-3606 Filed 2-18-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P