Comparable GHG emissions from animals in wildlife and livestock-dominated savannas

Pastoralism in Old World savannas is known to emit a significant share of global livestock-sourced greenhouse gases (GHG). Here, we compare calculated emissions from animals in a wildlife-dominated savanna (14.3 Mg km−2), to those in an adjacent land with similar ecological characteristics but under...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Manzano, P., del Prado, A., Pardo, G.
Format: article
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universidad del País Vasco
Repository:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/61256
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/61256
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:carbon emission
grazing pressure
greenhouse gas
livestock
pastoralism
savanna
Description
Summary:Pastoralism in Old World savannas is known to emit a significant share of global livestock-sourced greenhouse gases (GHG). Here, we compare calculated emissions from animals in a wildlife-dominated savanna (14.3 Mg km−2), to those in an adjacent land with similar ecological characteristics but under pastoralism (12.8 Mg km−2). The similar estimates for both, wildlife and pastoralism (76.2 vs 76.5 Mg CO2-eq km−2), point out an intrinsic association of emissions with herbivore ecological niches. Considering natural baseline or natural background emissions in grazing systems has important implications in the analysis of global food systems. © 2023, The Author(s).