A leather sea star (Dermasterias imbricata) clings to a rock at the Outer Pinnacles. Purple urchins and even a rock scallop can be seen in this colorful display of life. This dive was conducted as part of the REEF expedition in Monterey, CA.

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal and Ocean Science Competitive Research Program, Climate Program Office, and Ocean Acidification Program, in partnership with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the Integrated Ocean Observing System Office, are pleased to announce a Fiscal Year 2022 Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) to understand multi-stressor impacts on marine ecosystems under climate change.

Climate change is exacerbating existing environmental stressors (e.g., hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and ocean acidification) through changes to the fundamental drivers of ecosystems (e.g., temperature, precipitation, seasonal cycles, and biogeochemistry). These changes impact processes such as deoxygenation, nutrient and carbon cycling, respiration rates, stratification, ocean circulation, upwelling, and mixing, with implications for the prevalence, severity, and duration of harmful algal blooms, ocean acidification, and hypoxia events. Understanding how these multiple stressors interact and subsequently impact species, habitat assemblages, and ecosystems is critical for place-based management.

NOAA is soliciting proposals to increase our understanding of the combined impacts of multiple stressors, including harmful algal blooms, deoxygenation, ocean acidification, and increasing temperatures, on the function and health of marine ecosystems within the context of climate change. This information will be used to improve place-based management of marine protected areas and enable the proactive protection of these critical ecosystems under future climate scenarios. NOAA expects to fund 1–2 projects for up to four years in duration, with an approximate annual budget of $1 million, not to exceed $4 million in total.

A letter of intent is required. The deadline for letters of intent is October 4, 2021; and full applications are due January 18, 2022. View the full FFO here.