Forum: Climate, Ecological, and Social Costs of Livestock Grazing on Western Public Lands.

ABSTRACT: Grazing by domestic livestock is the most widespread use of public lands in the American West (USA) and their effects on climate change and ways to mitigate those effects are of interest to land managers, policy makers, and the broader public. Kauffman et al. (2022a) provided a meta-analysis of the ecosystem impacts, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and social costs of carbon (SCC) associated with livestock grazing on public lands in the western USA. They determined that GHG emissions from cattle on public lands equaled 12.4 million t CO₂e/year. At the scale of land use planning utilized by federal agencies, GHG emissions associated with allocated livestock numbers will typically exceed US Environmental Protection Agencies' reporting limits (25,000 t) for certain industrial green

SUBMITTER: Kauffman JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10460345 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature