Berlin. Livestock against climate change: Thousands of tons of carbon dioxide can be saved with a single herd. How does animal carbon dioxide storage work?
Livestock have long been considered climate killers. What is most surprising is that among all things there is a herd the BullThat is, wild livestock must save 54,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually and thus combat climate change. A research team from the Yale University School of the Environment in the United States reached this conclusion, according to The Guardian.
The university researchers examined a bison herd of 170 animals released into the wild since 2014 in the grasslands of Romania’s Tarcu Mountains on the edge of the Southern Carpathians. To study this, a new model was used that calculates the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is captured and stored in the soil through the interactions of wildlife species in ecosystems. In the case of the bison herd, the researchers came to an impressive result: bovine That would help store 54,000 tons of carbon dioxide — roughly equivalent to the amount that 43,000 average American gasoline cars emit annually.
Graphic video: Global warming and climate change
Bison against climate change: That’s why climate champions can restore ecosystems
But how exactly do bison save so much carbon dioxide? As Professor Oswald Schmitz, the leader of the study, explained to The Guardian, it would have a positive impact on grassland and forest ecosystems by “evenly grazing” the grasslands as they move. According to Schmitz, animals also fertilize the soil through digestion, recycling nutrients and compacting the soil, resulting in less Carbon Dioxide is released.
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The impact on ecosystems could be enormous, according to the researchers: “These animals have co-evolved over millions of years with grassland and forest ecosystems, and their removal has released huge amounts of carbon. Restoring this Ecosystems “It can restore balance, and free-range bison are among the climate champions who can contribute to that,” says Schmitz.
Protecting climate and biodiversity through bison herds
So does biologist Alexander Lees, a biodiversity lecturer in Manchester, who is not in Stady He said the study provides “a compelling case for reintroducing European bison as a nature-based climate solution” and offers significant benefits for biodiversity protection.
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However, the surprising positive result of the study in Romania should be viewed with caution. The study’s authors indicated that the specified value was 54 thousand tons CO2 savings be inaccurate; It can be up to 55% higher or lower. Schmitz also noted that the results cannot easily be transferred internationally to other countries. There are special soil and climatic conditions in the Romanian Tarcu Mountains. However, other areas such as the prairies of North America are very different – and so the outcome of releasing bison herds there may be different.
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