Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Rivers Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

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The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner to conduct paired comparisons of USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) drought fields to evaluate the effects of haying and grazing on vegetation quality, grassland bird populations and the pollinator community. Studies will be comprised of surveys in the Great Plains (GP) and Corn Belt (CB) regions along a precipitation gradient, using drought information provided by USDA to select fields experiencing a gradient of drought severity. Field-based results will then be analyzed for an evaluation of vegetation, erosion and wildlife (including native bee and grassland bird) habitat.