CONTEXT: Biodiversity loss caused by livestock production is a key environmental issue. Biodiversity-friendly livestock systems aim to favour biodiversity mainly for its own sake. Environmental impacts of biodiversity- friendly livestock systems have not been studied, nor have trade-offs between higher productivity and lower environmental impacts of these systems. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to (i) assess the productivity and environmental impacts of a sample of cattle- oriented production systems representing a wide range of external inputs, productivity and consideration of biodiversity; (ii) identify trade-offs among the objectives of lower input use, higher productivity, lower envi- ronmental impacts and higher energy return on investment (EROI); (iii) relate the systems' production strategies to the trade-offs identified and (iv) identify perspectives for biodiversity-friendly livestock systems METHODS: This study assessed the productivity and environmental impacts of a sample of seven cattle-oriented production systems: an agricultural rewilding system (biodiversity-friendly, in England), three suckler beef systems (two of them considered biodiversity-friendly, in France) and three dairy systems (one biodiversity- friendly and one conventional, in France). Life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to assess six environ- mental impacts (i.e. terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, land occupation, and in particular, climate change and energy demand) and was combined with calculation of EROI. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Per hectare of land occupied to produce livestock and their feed, production of human-edible animal protein and environmental impacts of these systems increased as energy demand (i.e. input use) increased. Per hectare, human-edible animal protein production, energy demand and climate change impact (considering carbon dynamics) ranged from 5 kg, 90 MJ and 5.5 t CO2-eq., respectively, for the agricultural rewilding system to 239 kg, 20,496 MJ and 8.3 t CO2-eq., respectively, for the conventional French dairy farm. Patterns of trade-offs varied among the production strategies of the farms. The four biodiversity-friendly farms in the sample had low productivity but also low environmental impacts per ha, especially for climate change and energy demand, due to being extensive systems with relatively high self-sufficiency. Biodiversity-friendly farms also had higher EROI than other farms that produced the same products. Using LCA to assess biodiversity- friendly systems, in particular agricultural rewilding, challenges its ability to consider natural baseline emis- sions and non-provisioning ecosystem services. SIGNIFICANCE: These results emphasise the need to consider the multiple functions of these systems and their overall environmental performances and sustainability. Current economic and social trends may provide op- portunities for biodiversity-friendly livestock systems as a possible future for livestock systems.
Authors
Aymeric Mondière, Michael S Corson, Julie Auberger, Daphné Durant, Sylvain Foray, Jean-Francois Glinec, Penny Green, Sandra Novak, Frédéric Signoret, Hayo van Der Werf
- Bibliographic Reference
- Aymeric Mondière, Michael S Corson, Julie Auberger, Daphné Durant, Sylvain Foray, et al.. Trade-offs between higher productivity and lower environmental impacts for biodiversity-friendly and conventional cattle-oriented systems. Agricultural Systems, 2024, 213, pp.103798. ⟨10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103798⟩. ⟨hal-04275868⟩
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103798
- HAL Collection
- ["Sciences De l'Environnement", 'GIP Bretagne Environnement', 'Institut National de Recherche en Agriculture, Alimentation et Environnement', 'Domaine expérimental de Saint-Laurent-de-la-Prée', 'Sol Agro et hydrosystème Spatialisation', 'Physiologie animale et systèmes d’élevage', 'Action, transitions et territoires', 'Collection du centre Nouvelle-Aquitaine-Poitiers', 'Institut Agro']
- HAL Identifier
- 4275868
- Institution
- ['Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement', 'Institut Agro Rennes Angers', "Institut de l'élevage", 'Auteur indépendant', 'Innoval', 'Association pour la Valorisation de la Race Bovine Maraîchine et des Prairies Humides']
- Laboratory
- ['Sol Agro et hydrosystème Spatialisation', 'Domaine expérimental de Saint-Laurent-de-la-Prée', 'Fourrages Environnement Ruminants Lusignan']
- Published in
- France
Table of Contents
- Trade-offs between higher productivity and lower environmental impacts for biodiversity-friendly and conventional cattle-or ... 2
- 1 Introduction 3
- 2 Methods 3
- 2.1 Farm sample and data collection 3
- 2.2 Production strategies 4
- 2.3 Life cycle assessment 5
- 2.3.1 System boundaries 5
- 2.3.2 Functional units 5
- 2.3.3 Allocation among co-products 6
- 2.3.4 Life cycle inventories 6
- 2.3.4.1 MEANS InOut software 6
- 2.3.4.2 Nitrate leaching from grassland 6
- 2.3.4.3 Dynamics of soil organic carbon and carbon storage in unmanaged woody biomass 6
- 2.3.5 Life cycle impact assessment 7
- 2.3.6 Contribution analysis 7
- 2.4 Energy return on investment 7
- 2.5 Identification of trade-offs 7
- 3 Results 7
- 3.1 Main inputs used and pollutants emitted 7
- 3.2 Environmental impacts 8
- 3.3 Focus on climate change and energy demand 9
- 3.3.1 Climate change 9
- 3.3.2 Energy demand 9
- 3.4 Energy return on investment 10
- 3.5 Trade-offs 10
- 4 Discussion 11
- 4.1 Interpretation of the main results 11
- 4.2 Relations between strategies and climate change and energy demand impacts 12
- 4.3 Energy return on investment 12
- 4.4 Trade-off patterns 13
- 4.5 Relations between environmental impacts and biodiversity 13
- 4.6 Perspectives 13
- 4.6.1 Implications for LCA methodology 13
- 4.6.2 The future for biodiversity-friendly livestock systems 13
- 5 Conclusion 14
- CRediT authorship contribution statement 14
- Declaration of Competing Interest 14
- Data availability 14
- Acknowledgements 14
- Appendix A Supplementary data 14
- References 14
