volrab vaclav | BigStock.com
Increased grazing can improve rangeland and sequester more carbon in soils — but the carbon benefits may be overstated if the role of supplemental feed is not taken into account, according to new research led by the University of Cambridge.
The research, published in the journal Science, determined that grazing still sequesters more carbon than it emits on a global scale. But when the researchers accounted for factors such as supplemental feed requirements and increased enteric methane from ruminants, the potential benefit dropped by about 30%, according to Robert Powell, a Ph.D. researcher at the University of Cambridge and the lead author on the study.
