Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/10419/195047
Authors:
Year of Publication:
2019
Citation:
[Journal:] PLOS ONE [ISSN:] 1932-6203 [Volume:] 14 [Issue:] 1 [Publisher:] Public Library of Science [Place:] San Francisco, CA [Year:] 2019 [Pages:] 1-27
Publisher:
Public Library of Science, San Francisco, CA
Abstract:
With increasing affluence in many developing countries, the demand for livestock products is rising and the increasing feed requirement contributes to pressure on land resources for food and energy production. However, there is currently a knowledge gap in our ability to assess the extent and intensity of the utilization of land by livestock, which is the single largest land use in the world. We developed a spatial model that combines fine-scale livestock numbers with their associated energy requirements to distribute livestock grazing demand onto a map of energy supply, with the aim of estimating where and to what degree pasture is being utilized. We applied our model to Kazakhstan, which contains large grassland areas that historically have been used for extensive livestock production but for which the current extent, and thus the potential for increasing livestock production, is unknown. We measured the grazing demand of Kazakh livestock in 2015 at 286 Petajoules, which was 25% of the estimated maximum sustainable energy supply that is available to livestock for grazing. The model resulted in a grazed area of 1.22 million km², or 48% of the area theoretically available for grazing in Kazakhstan, with most utilized land grazed at low intensities (average off-take rate was 13% of total biomass energy production). Under a conservative scenario, our estimations showed a production potential of 0.13 million tons of beef additional to 2015 production (31% increase), and much more with utilization of distant pastures. This model is an important step forward in evaluating pasture use and available land resources, and can be adapted at any spatial scale for any region in the world.
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Document Type:
Article
Document Version:
Published Version
Files in This Item:
File
Description
Size
Format
The piecewise linear function used to estimate the number of livestock owners in a settlement based on the total settlement population.
14.05 kB
Microsoft Word XML
The equation used to estimate the number of livestock in each age group in each district in 2015 using the more detailed 2006 agricultural census.
13.84 kB
Microsoft Word XML
The equation used to estimate the amount of energy supplied by fodder to each livestock species in each district in 2015.
13.82 kB
Microsoft Word XML
Piecewise function for the distribution of livestock to settlements based on human population.
2.5 MB
TIFF
A magnified view showing the result of the distribution model at the settlement level.
227.85 kB
TIFF
Side-by-side comparison with the results of a) Fetzel et al. [68] and b) our model.
2.15 MB
TIFF
Values used in the calculation of total energy demand [66].
42.98 kB
Microsoft Word XML
Age groups used in the estimation of livestock energy demand.
17.06 kB
Microsoft Word XML
Conversion ratios used to convert kg to MJ [42].
15.34 kB
Microsoft Word XML
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