The value of livestock production systems and ecosystem services

Authors: Taylor, Joshua - Bret

Submitted to: Animal Frontiers
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/25/2015
Publication Date: 10/1/2015
Citation: Taylor, J.B. 2015. The value of livestock production systems and ecosystem services. Animal Frontiers. 5(4):4-5.

Interpretive Summary: As humans, we are obligated to ensure that our methods to achieve and maintain a food-security infrastructure are compatible with the landscapes that we use. We are aware and reminded daily that carelessly implemented agricultural practices can permanently harm landscapes and the inherent eco¬system services (benefits). Therefore, we must always strive to create those agricultural systems that balance the need to ensure adequate food produc¬tion to meet the nutrition demands of a growing population with the duty to value and maintain the land’s ecological attributes. But, herein we find the dilemma. To what extent do we utilize a landscape for food production at the expense of other ecosystem services? Furthermore, should humans abandon long-proven sustainable agricultural systems to return popularized ecosys¬tem services to the landscape? The political views within and across the world’s nations of how these questions should be answered are controver¬sial and diverse. World consumption of animal products is on the rise and is predicted to continue significantly, especially in developing countries (Henning and Steinfeld, 2003). As the distribution and popula¬tion of humans expanded in the last 200 years, total land area used for grazing livestock production increased from approximately 3% to nearly 20% (Steinfeld et al., 2006). This demonstrates the importance of grazing landscapes as a core component of the food-security infrastructure on a local, regional, and worldwide basis. However, this also demonstrates the added and significant demand that we now expect from the land, an ex¬pectation that puts at risk essential ecological benefits and products. As we progress in our discovery, awareness, and recognition of nonagricultural benefits of the lands that we use for livestock production, we are faced with the challenge of how best to balance the use of the earth’s grazing resources for food production with the need to preserve, in whole or in part, the multitude of natural benefits that these lands provide.

Technical Abstract: As humans, we are obligated to ensure that our methods to achieve and maintain a food-security infrastructure are compatible with the landscapes that we use. We are aware and reminded daily that carelessly implemented agricultural practices can permanently harm landscapes and the inherent ecosystem services (benefits). Therefore, we must always strive to create those agricultural systems that balance the need to ensure adequate food production to meet the nutrition demands of a growing population with the duty to value and maintain the land’s ecological attributes. But, herein we find the dilemma. To what extent do we utilize a landscape for food production at the expense of other ecosystem services? Furthermore, should humans abandon long-proven sustainable agricultural systems to return popularized ecosystem services to the landscape? The political views within and across the world’s nations of how these questions should be answered are controversial and diverse. World consumption of animal products is on the rise and is predicted to continue significantly, especially in developing countries (Henning and Steinfeld, 2003). As the distribution and population of humans expanded in the last 200 years, total land area used for grazing livestock production increased from approximately 3% to nearly 20% (Steinfeld et al., 2006). This demonstrates the importance of grazing landscapes as a core component of the food-security infrastructure on a local, regional, and worldwide basis. However, this also demonstrates the added and significant demand that we now expect from the land, an expectation that puts at risk essential ecological benefits and products. As we progress in our discovery, awareness, and recognition of nonagricultural benefits of the lands that we use for livestock production, we are faced with the challenge of how best to balance the use of the earth’s grazing resources for food production with the need to preserve, in whole or in part, the multitude of natural benefits that these lands provide.