OpportunityTitle: Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forests CESU
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: This financial assistance opportunity is being issued under a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program.  CESU&#226;&#191;&#191;s are partnerships that provide research, technical  assistance, and education.  Eligible recipients must be a participating partner of the  Great Lakes and Northern Forests (CESU) Program.
Description: The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner to conduct genetics research on lake sturgeon in the St. Clair &#226;&#191;&#191; Detroit River System (SCDRS), Great Lakes. The goals of this research will be to collect genetic information from DNA extracted from lake sturgeon collected from the SCDRS from 2011-2016, for an estimated sample size of about 300/year. The extracted DNA will be analyzed at 18 microsatellite loci. The genetic data will then be used to determine the number of parents that produced the analyzed larvae, providing an estimate of the number of spawning individuals and the spawning (or other) habitats they used. In addition, the DNA from these fish samples will be compared with an existing DNA inventory of lake sturgeon collected throughout the Great Lakes in order to determine the relationship between the lake sturgeon spawning stocks sampled in the SCDRS to other genetically unique stocks. Results from these analyses will provide a better understanding of the relationship of the SCDRS lake sturgeon spawning population to other lake sturgeon populations found throughout the Great Lakes.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Contract Specialist
GrantorContactText: Faith Graves 703-648-7356&lt;br/&gt;fgraves@usgs.gov&lt;br/&gt;