BLM-NM Genetic Association Project for Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri - EFK) | L18AS00066

Opportunity Information: Apply for L18AS00066

The BLM-NM Genetic Association Project for Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus focuses on resolving a practical, on-the-ground management problem created by taxonomic uncertainty. Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri, abbreviated EFK) is federally listed under the Endangered Species Act, but it looks very similar to a much more common variety, Fendler's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. fendleri), and there are also many plants that appear intermediate between the two. Because the listed cactus triggers conservation requirements, BLM land management decisions can be constrained across areas where the cactus occurs, affecting multiple uses on public lands. The central issue is that managers currently lack genetic evidence to clearly distinguish EFK from the common variety and from intermediate forms, which makes it hard to decide which populations are most important to protect and how to target recovery actions that could eventually support delisting.

The opportunity funds a genetics-based study designed to answer two connected questions. First, it aims to determine whether EFK and the common Fendler's variety (plus the intermediates) are genetically distinct or whether they may be part of the same genetic continuum. Second, if EFK is confirmed as a distinct variety, the project seeks to understand how EFK populations (including all known element occurrences) are related to one another across the landscape, meaning whether populations are genetically similar, isolated, or structured into distinct groups. This population-structure information would help BLM prioritize conservation and recovery efforts by identifying which occurrences are rare, unique, or particularly important for maintaining the variety's genetic diversity.

To achieve this, the grant calls for using current genetic methods commonly applied in modern conservation genetics and species delimitation. The description specifically mentions plastome sequencing (sequencing chloroplast genomes to provide informative plant lineage signals), microsatellite development and genotyping (creating and using highly variable markers useful for evaluating relatedness and population structure), and ddRAD sequencing (a reduced-representation genome approach that samples many loci across the genome and is effective for detecting genetic differentiation among closely related taxa). The expectation is that these tools will provide a robust, data-driven basis for clarifying the relationship among EFK, the common variety, and intermediate plants, and for mapping genetic variation within EFK across its known occurrences.

Administratively, this was a discretionary funding opportunity from the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), categorized under Natural Resources (CFDA 15.245). It was offered as a cooperative agreement, indicating BLM anticipated substantial involvement or coordination during the project rather than a hands-off grant. The opportunity number was L18AS00066, originally posted July 13, 2018, with an original closing date of August 13, 2018. The anticipated award was a single project with an award ceiling of $45,000, and eligibility was listed as unrestricted (open broadly to applicant types, subject to any additional clarifications in the full notice).

Overall, the project is framed as a management-enabling genetics effort: produce defensible genetic evidence to reduce confusion in the field, guide which occurrences deserve highest conservation priority, and support future ESA recovery planning, including the possibility of delisting if the science indicates that EFK is not genetically distinct or if recovery criteria can be better targeted based on population-level genetic findings.

• The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BLM-NM Genetic Association Project for Kuenzler's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri - EFK)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.245.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 13, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 13, 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 $45,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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