Reassessing the role of grazing lands in carbon-balance estimations: Meta-analysis and review

Viglizzo, Ernesto F.; Ricard, M. Florencia; Taboada, Miguel Ángel; Vazquez-Amabile, Gabriel G

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.130

Cited by 69 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…As one of the most important ecological disturbances in terrestrial ecosystems, herbivores are anticipated to have considerable effects on SOC decomposition (Chen, Shi, & Cao, 2015; Pellis et al, 2019; Zhou et al, 2018). Yet, despite numerous studies in recent decades that reported soil processes in grazed grassland at different grazing intensity (Chen et al, 2018; Klumpp et al, 2009; Mcsherry & Ritchie, 2013; Väisänen, Sjögersten, Large, Drage, & Stark, 2015), the influence of herbivory on SOC decomposition is still rigorously debated (Viglizzo, Ricard, Taboada, & Vázquez‐Amábile, 2019). One of the major uncertainties associated with grazed grassland is how SOC decomposition varies along topo‐edaphic gradients (Risch, Jurgensen, & Frank, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herbivores stimulate respiration from labile and recalcitrant soil carbon pools in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park

Chen

Frank

2020

Land Degrad Dev

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Quantifying the effects of grazing on soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition is of crucial importance for understanding soil C dynamics. However, less attention has been paid to the pool-specific SOC decomposition and the underlying factors associated with each C pool, representing critical knowledge gaps on soil C dynamics. In this study, we applied a state-of-the-art Bayesian data assimilation technique to re-analyze previous soil incubation data to examine how herbivores influenced the fraction and cumulative respiration of labile and recalcitrant soil C pools from seven edaphically diverse sites in Yellowstone National Park, whereas those variables were not explored in the earlier study. Our results showed that grazing significantly increased cumulative respiration from both labile and recalcitrant C pools. Greater cumulative respiration from the labile C pool was related to grazers increasing labile C pool fractions, while higher cumulative respiration from the recalcitrant C pool was associated with grazers accelerating the decomposition rate of the recalcitrant C pool. Cumulative respiration from both labile and recalcitrant C pools was positively correlated with shoot biomass, soil gravimetric moisture, and soil C and nitrogen content. Our results underscore how knowledge of pool-specific SOC decomposition can provide a better mechanistic understanding of soil C dynamics along topo-edaphic gradients in grazed grassland.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herbivores stimulate respiration from labile and recalcitrant soil carbon pools in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park

Chen

Frank

2020

Land Degrad Dev

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“…Well-managed grasslands, especially in more mesic areas, can act as carbon sinks in a variety of geographical locations worldwide and depending on geographical locations, may be more reliable carbon sinks than forest (Dass et al, 2018;Viglizzo et al, 2019). It must be noted that the two (forests and livestock) are not mutually exclusive to begin with, as demonstrated by successful implementation of silvopastoralism-a type of agroforestry integrating trees, forage, and livestock-in forested areas across the globe as a strategy to enhance carbon sequestration, soil health, and food security for those inhabiting such areas (Kumar and Nair, 2011).…”

Section: The Ecological Impacts Of Plant-based Meat Vs Meat Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant-Based Meats, Human Health, and Climate Change

Vliet

Kronberg

Provenza

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

142

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There is wide scale concern about the effects of red meat on human health and climate change. Plant-based meat alternatives, designed to mimic the sensory experience and nutritional value of red meat, have recently been introduced into consumer markets. Plant-based meats are marketed under the premise of environmental and human health benefits and are aimed appeal to a broad consumer base. Meat production is critiqued for its overuse of water supplies, landscape degradation, and greenhouse gas emission, and depending on production practices, environmental footprints may be lower with plant-based meat alternatives. Life-cycle analyses suggest that the novel plant-based meat alternatives have an environmental footprint that may be lower than beef finished in feedlots, but higher than beef raised on well-managed pastures. In this review, we discuss the nutritional and ecological impacts of eating plant-based meat alternatives vs. animal meats. Most humans fall on a spectrum of omnivory: they satisfy some nutrient requirements better from plant foods, while needs for other nutrients are met more readily from animal foods. Animal foods also facilitate the uptake of several plant-derived nutrients (zinc and iron), while plant nutrients can offer protection against potentially harmful compounds in cooked meat. Thus, plant and animal foods operate in symbiotic ways to improve human health. The mimicking of animal foods using isolated plant proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals likely underestimates the true nutritional complexity of whole foods in their natural state, which contain hundreds to thousands of nutrients that impact human health. Novel plant-based meat alternatives should arguably be treated as meat alternatives in terms of sensory experience, but not as true meat replacements in terms of nutrition. If consumers wish to replace some of their meat with plant-based alternatives in the diet (a "flexitarian approach") this is unlikely to negatively impact their overall nutrient status, but this also depends on what other foods are in their diet and the life stage of the individual.

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“…The capacity of grazing lands to sequester CO 2 has probably been mis-estimated by most assessments due to underestimation of carbon storage in soils as indicated by [60]. Below ground biomass contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere [61,62].…”

Section: Would Intensified Rangeland Management Help In Mitigating CLmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Below ground biomass contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere [61,62]. Grasslands sequester most of their carbon below ground in contrast to forests which primarily store carbon above ground in wood [60]. When grasslands burn, the carbon stored underground remains mostly unmodified but when forests burn large releases of carbon from wood occur in the atmosphere [60].…”

Section: Would Intensified Rangeland Management Help In Mitigating CLmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change, Rangelands, and Sustainability of Ranching in the Western United States

et al. 2020

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Accelerated climate change is a global challenge that is increasingly putting pressure on the sustainability of livestock production systems that heavily depend on rangeland ecosystems. Rangeland management practices have low potential to sequester greenhouse gases. However, mismanagement of rangelands and their conversion into ex-urban, urban, and industrial landscapes can significantly exacerbate the climate change process. Under conditions of more droughts, heat waves, and other extreme weather events, management of risks (climate, biological, financial, political) will probably be more important to the sustainability of ranching than capability to expand output of livestock products in response to rising demand due to population growth. Replacing traditional domestic livestock with a combination of highly adapted livestock and game animals valued for both hunting and meat may be the best strategy on many arid rangelands. Eventually, traditional ranching could become financially unsound across large areas if climate change is not adequately addressed. Rangeland policy, management, and research will need to be heavily focused on the climate change problem.

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Reassessing the role of grazing lands in carbon-balance estimations: Meta-analysis and review

Cited by 69 publications

References 72 publications

Herbivores stimulate respiration from labile and recalcitrant soil carbon pools in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park

Herbivores stimulate respiration from labile and recalcitrant soil carbon pools in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park

Plant-Based Meats, Human Health, and Climate Change

Climate Change, Rangelands, and Sustainability of Ranching in the Western United States

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