Quantifying impacts of livestock production on ecosystem services: Insights into grazing management under vegetation restoration

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production 2024-09, Vol.470, p.143359, Article 143359
• Main Authors: Li, Ting, Feng, Weihan, Lü, Yihe, Ma, Liyang, Liu, Yuanxin, Luo, Ying, Liang, Haibin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: biomass; cattle; China; Drylands; ecological restoration; Ecosystem services; ecosystems; erosion control; forage; Geographical factors; goats; Grazing; livestock husbandry; Livestock industry; livestock production; sheep; vegetation; Vegetation index; water yield
• ISSN: 0959-6526
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143359

Recent decades, vegetation restoration initiatives and land institutional reforms have profoundly altered practices of livestock husbandry in China. However, the understanding of how livestock production affects restoration effectiveness remains limited, impeding the advancement of sustainable grazing management. Taking the Loess Plateau as a case area, this study aims to examine the impacts of livestock production on key ecosystem services (ESs) under the Grain-to-Green Program (GTGP). Based on an improved estimation of available biomass for livestock, grazing intensity across the study area in 2015 was quantified. Then, by linking grazing intensity with associated livestock economies, a comprehensive framework reflecting livestock production was constructed to analyze its overall impacts on three ESs (water yield, erosion control, and forage provision). Finally, spatial effects of each component within livestock production on the ESs were discussed to inform grazing managements under the GTGP. The results indicated that the three ESs still suffered widespread negative impacts from grazing intensity, with 9.82% of the region experiencing high-level grazing in 2015. Although grazing had potential to mitigate water consumption due to vegetation growth, livestock density of most areas has exceeded its threshold (0.52 sheep or goat per ha, or 0.30 cattle per ha) for maintaining available water resource. Livestock economies demonstrated positive effects on the ESs to varying degrees. Nevertheless, as the positive externalities from ecological compensation are on the wane, challenges in livestock management have surfaced in both poverty-stricken and large livestock-intensive regions. This study offers insights into assessing regional grazing intensity, and enriches understanding of impacts of livestock production under vegetation restoration. •Combining remote sensing index with geographic factors estimates grazing intensity.•Moderate grazing could alleviate water consumption in vegetation restoration areas.•Poverty and high-density livestock areas pose significant environmental pressures.