This research suggests an additional benefit to the restoration and conservation of the countryside.

The ability of livestock to disturb the climate is mainly due to methane, which is released into the atmosphere during the animals’ daily digestion. Livestock urine is a lesser-known factor that damages the climate because it produces nitrous oxide (N2O), which has a heating power stronger than that of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary cause of global warming. A study carried out by the International Center of Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and its associates shows that these N2O emissions can be significantly reduced by providing healthy pasture for livestock production.

For this study, researchers collected livestock urine from research sites in five Latin American countries and the Caribbean. Samples of 500 mL were released into evenly matched livestock fields, one of which was classified as degraded, the other as healthy, as determined by its vegetation cover. In six of the seven test sites, the degraded farmland released significantly more N2O –sometimes up to three times more. The results were published on Jan. 29 in Scientific Reports, a science magazine, by the publishing house Nature.

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