Summary
This field-based investigation elucidates the complex interactions between soil, pasture type, and animal management that regulate nitrous oxide emissions from temperate grazing systems. The authors demonstrated that soil under high sugar grass monoculture produced elevated N₂O emissions when receiving excreta from cattle fed the same pasture, highlighting feedback mechanisms that must be evaluated at the whole-farm system scale rather than in isolation. The findings underscore the importance of considering coupled soil-plant-animal-microbial dynamics when assessing the environmental impact of grassland-based livestock production.
UK applicability
These findings are directly applicable to UK grazing systems, where temperate pastures and intensive grassland management are widespread in livestock production. The results suggest that forage quality, pasture species diversity, and diet-excreta matching should be considered together when developing mitigation strategies for greenhouse gas emissions from UK dairy and beef enterprises.
Key measures
Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from soil; soil properties; pasture type and composition; cattle diet and excreta characteristics
Outcomes reported
The study examined nitrous oxide emissions from grazing systems under different pasture types and animal feed regimes, exploring three-way interactions between soil characteristics, pasture composition, and livestock management. The research measured how high sugar grass monoculture combined with cattle excreta affected greenhouse gas emissions.
Topic tags
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