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Soil carbon sequestration in grazing systems: managing expectations

Climatic Change volume 161, pages 385–391 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Grazing systems emit greenhouse gases, which can, under specific agro-ecological conditions, be partly or entirely offset by soil carbon sequestration. However, any sequestration is time-limited, reversible, and at a global level outweighed by emissions from grazing systems. Thus, grazing systems are globally a net contributor to climate change and the time scale of key processes needs to be factored into any mitigation efforts. Failing to do so leads to unrealistic expectations of soil carbon management in grazing systems as a mitigation strategy. Protecting the large carbon stocks in grazing lands is also essential in order to avoid further climate change from additional CO2 release. Despite the time-limited and reversible nature of soil carbon sequestration in grazing lands, sequestration should be promoted in cases where it delivers environmental and agronomic benefits as well as for its potential, particularly on degraded land, to increase the feasibility of limiting global warming to less than 2 or preferably 1.5 °C. Some peer-reviewed sequestration estimates are of a similar order of magnitude to other food systems mitigation options over a 10–20 years period, such as reducing food loss and waste by 15% or aligning diets with current health related dietary-recommendations. However, caution should be applied to such comparisons since mitigation estimates are associated with large uncertainties and will ultimately depend on the economic cost-benefit relation, feasibility of implementation and time frame considered.

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Funding

The inputs of C.M.G., M.H., and P.S. contribute to the project DEVIL [NE/M021327/1]. The input of P.S. also contributes to the following projects: U-GRASS [NE/M016900/1] and Soils-R-GRREAT [NE/P019455/1]. We thank the Centre of Organic Production and Consumption (EPOK) at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences for funding E.R.’s part of the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

    Cécile M. Godde

  2. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St Lucia, Australia

    Cécile M. Godde & Mario Herrero

  3. Animal Production Systems group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Imke J. M. de Boer, Corina E. van Middelaar & Hannah H. E. van Zanten

  4. Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Erasmus zu Ermgassen

  5. Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique F. R. S.-FNRS, Brussels, Belgium

    Erasmus zu Ermgassen

  6. Department of Socioeconomics, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, Switzerland

    Adrian Muller & Christian Schader

  7. Weather and Climate Risks WCR, Institute of Environmental Decisions IED, Federal Institutes of Technology ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Adrian Muller

  8. Department of Energy and Technology and Centre of Organic Production and Consumption (EPOK), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    Elin Röös

  9. Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

    Pete Smith

  10. Food Climate Research Network, Environmental Change Institute and the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Tara Garnett

Authors
  1. Cécile M. Godde
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  2. Imke J. M. de Boer
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  3. Erasmus zu Ermgassen
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  4. Mario Herrero
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  5. Corina E. van Middelaar
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  6. Adrian Muller
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  7. Elin Röös
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  8. Christian Schader
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  9. Pete Smith
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  10. Hannah H. E. van Zanten
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  11. Tara Garnett
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Contributions

T.G. and C.M.G. conceived and led the project, reviewed the literature, analyzed the data, wrote the paper. I.J.M.B., E.Z.E., M.H., C.E.M., A.M., E.R., C.S., P.S., and H.H.E.Z. conceived the project, reviewed the literature, analyzed the data, and edited the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cécile M. Godde.

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Godde, C.M., de Boer, I.J.M., Ermgassen, E.z. et al. Soil carbon sequestration in grazing systems: managing expectations. Climatic Change 161, 385–391 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02673-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02673-x

Keywords

  • Grasslands
  • Soil carbon
  • Climate change
  • Livestock
  • Cattle
  • Greenhouse gases