Characterizing soil organic matter quality to enhance national-scale assessments of wetland carbon sequestration | USGS 19 FA 0042

Opportunity Information: Apply for USGS 19 FA 0042

The grant opportunity titled "Characterizing soil organic matter quality to enhance national-scale assessments of wetland carbon sequestration" is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cooperative agreement aimed at improving how wetland carbon storage and vulnerability are measured and predicted at a national scale. The core idea is to work collaboratively with scientists at The Water Institute of the Gulf to build a clearer, more defensible scientific picture of how stable or fragile soil organic carbon is in wetland environments, especially when those wetlands experience disturbances over different time horizons.

The work focuses on "soil organic matter quality," meaning the chemical and biological characteristics that determine whether carbon in wetland soils is likely to remain stored for long periods or be rapidly broken down and released back to the atmosphere. A central set of measurements involves separating and quantifying the relative amounts of labile (more easily decomposed) versus refractory or recalcitrant (more resistant) carbon pools. By distinguishing these fractions, the project can move beyond simply reporting total carbon stocks and instead evaluate how much of that carbon is actually vulnerable to loss under changing conditions.

Another major component is isotope-based characterization of carbon and nitrogen in soils. The opportunity calls for measuring soil radiocarbon (C14) content, which is commonly used to infer the "age" and turnover rate of soil carbon, helping determine whether wetlands are storing relatively new plant-derived carbon or maintaining older, more persistent carbon reservoirs. It also includes assessing stable isotope shifts in carbon (C13) and nitrogen (N15), along with their ratios, which can provide insight into organic matter sources, decomposition pathways, nutrient cycling dynamics, and the extent of microbial processing. In practice, these isotope signatures can act like tracers that connect observed carbon stocks to underlying processes.

Beyond isotopes and carbon fractions, the project emphasizes collecting broader bulk soil properties and soil/water physicochemical data. While the announcement does not list every parameter, this generally points to measurements that influence decomposition and stabilization, such as organic matter content, texture, mineral associations, redox conditions, salinity, pH, moisture, and other water chemistry variables relevant to wetlands. These environmental controls are important because wetland soils can shift quickly between oxygen-poor and oxygen-rich conditions, and those shifts strongly affect microbial activity and carbon loss.

A defining feature of the opportunity is the explicit linkage between soil chemical properties, microbial community composition, and soil respiration. The intent is to connect what the soil carbon looks like (its quality, isotope composition, and related properties) to who is doing the decomposing (microbial community structure) and what the outcome is in terms of carbon emissions (soil respiration as a proxy for decomposition and CO2 release). By tying these lines of evidence together, the collaborative research is expected to better diagnose carbon vulnerability and identify which combinations of conditions and microbial communities lead to higher or lower carbon loss.

The grant also highlights the importance of disturbances, both long-term and short-term, as a lens for evaluating vulnerability. This suggests the research may compare sites or time periods affected by events such as storms, flooding, drought, land-use changes, or management actions, examining how these disturbances alter soil chemistry, microbial communities, and respiration rates. The practical goal is to understand not just how much carbon wetlands store, but how resilient that storage is when the system is stressed or altered.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity from the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, offered as a cooperative agreement under CFDA 15.808 in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category. The eligible applicants are limited to nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education). The opportunity anticipated a single award with a ceiling of $49,708. The posting dates indicate it was created on December 17, 2018 with an original closing date of December 18, 2018, implying a very short application window and a targeted collaboration rather than an open-ended, long-duration competition.

Overall, the opportunity is designed to produce process-based, measurement-rich evidence that can strengthen national-scale assessments of wetland carbon sequestration by clarifying how wetland soil carbon behaves, how quickly it can be lost, and which indicators most reliably signal vulnerability under real-world disturbance scenarios.

• The Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Characterizing soil organic matter quality to enhance national-scale assessments of wetland carbon sequestration" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 17, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 18, 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 $49,708.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for USGS 19 FA 0042

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