Extensive grazing in contrast to mowing is climate-friendly based on the farm-scale greenhouse gas balance

•Systems based on extensive grazing act as net sink for greenhouse gases.•Greenhouse gas balance of livestock farming highly depends on precipitation.•Livestock farming could be a net sink for greenhouse gases under proper management regimes. Livestock is both threatened by and contributing to clima...

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Published in:Agriculture, ecosystems & environment ecosystems & environment, 2017-03, Vol.240, p.121-134
Main Authors: Koncz, Péter, Pintér, Krisztina, Balogh, János, Papp, Marianna, Hidy, Dóra, Csintalan, Zsolt, Molnár, Erik, Szaniszló, Albert, Kampfl, Györgyi, Horváth, László, Nagy, Zoltán
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Animal wastes
Balances (scales)
Carbon dioxide
Carbon uptake
CH4
Climate
Climate change
Climate change mitigation
Climate variability
CO2 fluxes
Covariance
Ecosystems
Emission measurements
Extenuating circumstances
Farming
Farms
Fermentation
Fluxes
Grassland management
Grazing
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Livestock
Livestock farming
Management
Methane
Mitigation
Mowing
N2O
Nitrous oxide
Soil conditions
Soil moisture
Soils
Vortices
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Summary:•Systems based on extensive grazing act as net sink for greenhouse gases.•Greenhouse gas balance of livestock farming highly depends on precipitation.•Livestock farming could be a net sink for greenhouse gases under proper management regimes. Livestock is both threatened by and contributing to climate change. The contribution of livestock to climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission greatly vary under different management regimes. A number of mitigation options comprise livestock management, although there are a lot of uncertainties as to which management regime to use for a given pedoclimatic and farming system. Therefore, we 1) tested if an extensive cattle livestock farm is a net sink or a net source for GHG (carbon–dioxide, CO2; methane, CH4; nitrous oxide N2O) in Central–Eastern Europe, 2) compared the annual GHG balances between the grazed and mowed treatments of the farm 3) and investigated the role of climate variability in shaping these balances. Net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE) was measured with eddy covariance technique in both the grazed and mowed treatments. Estimations of lateral C fluxes were based on management data. Other GHG fluxes (CH4, N2O) were determined by chamber gas flux measurements technique (in case of soil) and IPCC guidelines (in case of manure decomposition and animal fermentation). Net greenhouse gas balance (NGHG) for the grazed treatment was 228±283g CO2 equivalent m−2year−1 (net sink) and −475±144g CO2 equiv. m−2year−1 (net source) for the mowed treatment. Net source activity at the mowed treatment was due to its higher herbage use intensity compared to the grazed treatment. At the farm scale the system was estimated to be a net sink for NGHG in a year with wet (135g CO2 equiv. m−2year−1), while a net source in years with dry soil moisture conditions (−267±214g CO2 equiv. m−2year−1). We conclude that under a temperate continental climate extended extensive grazing could serve as a potential mitigation of GHG in contrast to mowing. Our study highlights the fact that livestock farming could create a net sink for GHG under proper management regimes.
ISSN:0167-8809
1873-2305
DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2017.02.022