A review of technical variations and protocols used to measure methane emissions from ruminants using respiration chambers, SF6 tracer technique and GreenFeed, to facilitate global integration of published data

Rosa, M.M. Della; Jonker, Arjan; Waghorn, G. C.

doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2021.115018

Cited by 28 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…While respiration chamber studies are the gold standard when it comes to CH 4 measurements ( Donoghue et al, 2016a , 2016b ; Arthur et al, 2018 ), GEM systems facilitate a more cost-effective alternative while permitting animals to accumulate CH 4 measures in their usual production environment. Numerous previous studies have compared respiration chambers with multiple methods of methane measurement, including GEM systems, sniffer methods, and laser detector methods ( Hammond et al, 2015 , 2016 ; Arbre et al, 2016 ; Difford et al, 2018 ; Doreau et al, 2018 ; Garnsworthy et al, 2019 ; Zhao et al, 2020 ; Della Rosa et al, 2021 ). Strong correlations (0.81) between respiration chambers and GEM systems have been previously established ( Garnsworthy et al, 2019 ) and Doreau et al (2018) also found differences between respiration chambers and GEM systems to be minor suggesting GEM systems provide reliable emission measurements for groups of animals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present study highlighted the vast variation that exists in both animal visit frequency and visit duration to a GEM system. Currently, only 30% of existing GEM studies have a detailed visit duration ( Della Rosa et al, 2021 ). Of the 30 GEM system studies reviewed by Della Rosa et al (2021) , the mean visit duration was 3.4 min, similar to the 3.47 min mean visit duration observed in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, only 30% of existing GEM studies have a detailed visit duration ( Della Rosa et al, 2021 ). Of the 30 GEM system studies reviewed by Della Rosa et al (2021) , the mean visit duration was 3.4 min, similar to the 3.47 min mean visit duration observed in this study. Della Rosa et al (2021) also reported a wide range in the number of visits an animal makes to a GEM system across trials, ranging from 6 to 141 visits with a mean of 63 visits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Manafiazar et al (2017) also showed that GEM systems consistently ranked animals in terms of CH 4 emissions. However, as CH 4 concentrations vary with visit number and duration at the GEM system, there is a large disparity between GEM system protocols in existing CH 4 emission measurement studies, resulting in implications for data comparison across studies ( Della Rosa et al, 2021 ). Disparity in GEM system protocol also has consequences for analysis within studies, especially for genetic parameter estimation that is impacted by within-method repeatability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phenotypic relationship and repeatability of methane emissions and performance traits in beef cattle using a GreenFeed system

Ryan

Pabiou²,

Purfield

et al. 2022

Journal of Animal Science

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Rumen methanogenesis results in the loss of 6% to 10% of gross energy intake in cattle and globally is the single most significant source of anthropogenic methane (CH4) emissions. The purpose of this study was to analyse greenhouse gas traits recorded in a commercial feedlot unit to gain an understanding into the relationships between greenhouse gas traits and production traits. Methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) data recorded via multiple GreenFeed Emission Monitoring (GEM) systems as well as feed intake, live weight, ultrasound scanning data and slaughter data were available on 1099 animals destined for beef production, of which 648 were steers, 361 were heifers and 90 were bulls. Phenotypic relationships between GEM emission measurements with feed intake, weight traits, muscle ultrasound data and carcass traits were estimated. Utilisation of GEM systems, daily patterns of methane output and repeatability of GEM system measurements across averaging periods were also assessed. Methane concentrations varied with visit number, duration and time of day of visit to the GEM system. Mean CH4 and CO2 varied between sex, with mean CH4 of 256.1 g/day ± 64.23 for steers, 234.7 g/day ± 59.46 for heifers and 156.9 g/day ± 55.98 for young bulls. A 10-day average period of GEM system measurements were required for steers and heifers to achieve a minimum repeatability of 0.60, however, higher levels of repeatability were observed in animals that attended the GEM system more frequently. In contrast, CO2 emissions reached repeatability estimates >0.6 for steers and heifers in all averaging periods greater than 2-day, suggesting that cattle have a moderately consistent CO2 emission pattern across time periods. Animals with heavier bodyweights were observed to have higher levels of CH4 (correlation = 0.30) and CO2 production (correlation = 0.61), and when assessing direct methane, higher levels of dry matter intake were associated with higher methane output (correlation = 0.31). Results suggest that reducing CH4 can have a negative impact on growth and body composition of cattle. Methane ratio traits, such as methane yield and intensity were also evaluated, and whilst easy to understand and compare across populations, ratio traits are undesirable in animal breeding, due to the unpredictable level of response. Methane adjusted for dry matter intake and liveweight (Residual CH4), should be considered as an alternative emission trait when selecting for reduced emissions within breeding goals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Phenotypic relationship and repeatability of methane emissions and performance traits in beef cattle using a GreenFeed system

Ryan

Pabiou²,

Purfield

et al. 2022

Journal of Animal Science

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show abstract

“…Every method or methodology to quantify CH 4 emissions from livestock production has limitations brought about by their original intent of use. Della Rosa et al (2021) assessed variations in technical procedures of respiration chambers, SF 6 , and Greenfeed Emission Monitoring System for measuring CH 4 from ruminants and concluded that standardization within and between techniques could improve the reliability of the results. Therefore, using these technologies outside of their purpose is risky, and extrapolation of their estimates will undoubtedly result in unintended consequences.…”

Section: Final Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantification of methane emitted by ruminants: a review of methods

Tedeschi

Abdalla

Álvarez

et al. 2022

Journal of Animal Science

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The contribution of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ruminant production systems varies between countries and between regions within individual countries. The appropriate quantification of GHG emissions, specifically methane (CH4), has raised questions about the correct reporting of GHG inventories and, perhaps more importantly, how best to mitigate CH4 emissions. This review documents existing methods and methodologies to measure and estimate CH4 emissions from ruminant animals and the manure produced therein over various scales and conditions. Measurements of CH4 have frequently been conducted in research settings using classical methodologies developed for bioenergetic purposes, such as gas exchange techniques (respiration chambers, headboxes). While very precise, these techniques are limited to research settings as they are expensive, labor-intensive, and applicable only to a few animals. Head-stalls, such as the GreenFeed system, have been used to measure expired CH4 for individual animals housed alone or in groups in confinement or grazing. This technique requires frequent animal visitation over the diurnal measurement period and an adequate number of collection days. The tracer gas technique can be used to measure CH4 from individual animals housed outdoors, as there is a need to ensure low background concentrations. Micrometeorological techniques (e.g., open-path lasers) can measure CH4 emissions over larger areas and many animals, but limitations exist, including the need to measure over more extended periods. Measurement of CH4 emissions from manure depends on the type of storage, animal housing, CH4 concentration inside and outside the boundaries of the area of interest, and ventilation rate, which is likely the variable that contributes the greatest to measurement uncertainty. For large-scale areas, aircraft, drones, and satellites have been used in association with the tracer flux method, inverse modeling, imagery, and lidar, but research is lagging in validating these methods. Bottom-up approaches to estimating CH4 emissions rely on empirical or mechanistic modeling to quantify the contribution of individual sources (enteric and manure). In contrast, top-down approaches estimate the amount of CH4 in the atmosphere using spatial and temporal models to account for transportation from an emitter to an observation point. While these two estimation approaches rarely agree, they help identify knowledge gaps and research requirements in practice.

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Relationship between daily variations of methane emissions and eructation peaks in dairy cows measured with an automated head-chamber system

Wang

Cao

Zhang

et al. 2023

Animal Feed Science and Technology

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A review of technical variations and protocols used to measure methane emissions from ruminants using respiration chambers, SF6 tracer technique and GreenFeed, to facilitate global integration of published data

Cited by 28 publications

References 56 publications

Phenotypic relationship and repeatability of methane emissions and performance traits in beef cattle using a GreenFeed system

Phenotypic relationship and repeatability of methane emissions and performance traits in beef cattle using a GreenFeed system

Quantification of methane emitted by ruminants: a review of methods

Relationship between daily variations of methane emissions and eructation peaks in dairy cows measured with an automated head-chamber system

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