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Publicação
“BalSim”: A Carbon, Nitrogen and Greenhouse Gas Mass Balance Model for Pastures
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| 1.69 MB | Adobe PDF |
Orientador(es)
Resumo(s)
Animal production systems are increasingly required to co-produce meat products and
other ecosystem services. Sown biodiverse pastures (SBP) were developed in Portugal as an
improvement over semi-natural pastures (SNP). SBP increase yields and animal intake during
grazing, are substantial carbon sinks, and the abundance of legumes in the mixtures provides plants
with a biological source of nitrogen. However, the data available and the data demands of most
models make integrated modelling of these effects difficult. Here, we developed “BalSim”, a mass
balance approach for the estimation of carbon and nitrogen flows and the direct greenhouse gas
(GHG) balance of the two production systems. Results show that, on average, the on-farm GHG
balance is 2.6 and 0.8 t CO2e/ha.yr for SBP and SNP, respectively. Ignoring the effects of carbon
sequestration, and taking into account only non-CO2 emissions, the systems are responsible for 17.0
and 16.3 kg CO2e/kg live weight.yr. The annual analysis showed that non-CO2 emissions were
highest in a drought year due to decreased yield and stocking rate. We also showed through scenario
analysis that matching the grazing level to the yield is crucial to minimize emissions and ensure
reduced feed supplementation while maintaining high soil carbon stocks.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Livestock production; Extensive meat production; GlobalWarming Potential; Nutrient cycles; Modelling; Biodiversity; Cleaner production; Farmer advisory; Industrial Ecology
Contexto Educativo
Citação
Teixeira, R.F.; Barão, L.; Morais, T.G.; Domingos, T. “BalSim”: A Carbon, Nitrogen and Greenhouse Gas Mass Balance Model for Pastures. Sustainability 2019, 11, 53.
Editora
MDPI