Elucidating three-way interactions between soil, pasture and animals that regulate nitrous oxide emissions from temperate grazing systems

Summary

Pasture-based livestock farming contributes considerably to global emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O), a powerful greenhouse gas approximately 265 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Traditionally, the estimation of N₂O emissions from grasslands is carried out by means of plot-scale experiments, where externally sourced animal excreta are applied to soils to simulate grazing conditions. This approach, however, fails to account for the impact of different sward types on the composition of excreta and thus the functionality of soil microbiomes, creating unrealistic situations that are seldom observed under commercial agriculture. Using three farming systems under contrasting pasture management strategies at the North Wyke Farm Platform, an instrumented ruminant grazing