Ecosystem goods and services from rangelands in the Canadian Prairie: carbon storage and biodiversity

Transcription

1 Ecosystem goods and services from rangelands in the Canadian Prairie: carbon storage and biodiversity Cameron Carlyle Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association Swift Current, SK June 2018

2 Livestock impacts Eshel et al Land, irrigation water, greenhouse gas, and reactive nitrogen burdens of meat, eggs, and dairy production in the United States. PNAS 111:

3 Canada s grasslands Arid Climate Low productivity Limited potential for cultivation Privately owned

4 Grasslands provide ecosystem goods and services (EG&S) Forage for livestock

5 Forage for wild ungulates

6 Water purification and retention

7 Carbon storage and greenhouse gas reduction

8 Pollination

9 Habitat for wildlife/ biodiversity Habitat loss has led to the extirpation of: Black-footed ferrets Greater Prairie chicken Plains grizzly bear And many more are endangered or threatened: Yucca moth Burrowing owl Sage thrasher Harvest mouse Greater short-horned lizard Yellow-bellied racer Soapweed Slender mouse-ear-cress J. Michael Lockhart / USFWS Species at risk public registry:

10 60 to 83% conversion

11 Conversion is ongoing Rates of Conversion: WWF : 2% of Great plains lost/ year 1.5M acres/year Alberta: 1.8% (1999 to 2013) Economics drive conversion Livestock $ < crop $ Farm succession Hobby farms Urban expansion Technological advances in farming In Alberta: 10.5 M acres of remaining native grassland 57% privately owned Major revenue source is from livestock

12 Grassland conversion has led to the loss of carbon, biodiversity and a way of life Carbon (Mg/ha) Carbon -30% Biodiversity Native Forage Crop Ranches

13 Overarching Research Goals How do different land-uses affect EG&S? How do different management practices affect EG&S? What are the mechanisms leading to these differences? Provide empirical evidence that supports grassland conservation and the development of markets capable of rewarding producers for EG&S

14 Carbon, greenhouse gases (GHG) and climate change Common agricultural GHG Carbon dioxide CO 2 1 CO 2 e Methane CH 4 21 CO 2 e Nitrous oxide N 2 O 310 CO 2 e Absorb and emit infrared radiation

15 Carbon cycle CO 2 In atmosphere Carbon pools Atmospheric carbon Respiration & Burning Photosynthesis $ Live plants Dead plants Roots Microbial carbon Soil organic carbon

16 Grassland carbon offsets Carbon conservation offsets Keep carbon in the ground GHG reduction offsets Sequester carbon through management changes

17 Carbon Benchmarking Study Compared landuses Examined areas inside and outside long-term cattle exclosures

18 Annual Cropping Reduced Total Carbon Compared to Native Grassland -28% -45%

19 Grasslands in General Help Maximize Total Agro-Ecosystem Carbon Pool Size Total SOC Pool Size (kg/ha) 0 Silvopasture Crop-shelterbelt Crop-hedgerow (Baah-Acheamfour et al. 2015)

20 Millions of Mg- C What is the Value of C Retained/Lost from Native Grasslands? Carbon stores derived using ABMI areas for each land use change and a C-valuation of $30/t-CO 2 e (ERA) Prairie Parkland $22.6 B $8.6 B $7.2 B $8.4 B 0 C Currently Retained C Previously Lost

21 Native grasslands have higher soil health indexes than tame pasture and cropland (Hebb et al. 2017) LAND USE TYPE Max Water Availability Soil Porosity Fractal Index (cm 3 cm -3 ) (e.g. aggregation) Native Grassland 0.14 b 0.54 b b Introduced Pasture a 0.46 a ab Annual Cropland a 0.47 a a > >

22 Grazing increased soil carbon (Hewins et al. 2018) Soil depths

23 Total Herb Biomass (kg/ha) Grazing increased plant production in wetter regions 3500 Non-grazed Grazed Introduced species likely play a role in boosting herbage productivity Dry Mixedgrass Mixedgrass Central Parkland Foothills Fescue Montane Upper Foothills (Lyseng et al. 2018) Natural Sub-region

24 Nutrient Cycling in Northern Temperate Grasslands Cattle change vegetation types

25 Grazing increased decomposition rates Foothills Fescue Aspen Parkland (Chuan et al. 2018)

26 Grazing shifts plant community toward faster decomposing plants Mass Remaining (%) Foothills Fescue (Chuan et al. 2017) Sample Collection Time (Months)

27 Non-Grazed Grassland soils have higher carbon dioxide emissions in dry year CO 2 (kg C ha -1 )

28 Pasture Systems Have Greater CH 4 Uptake & Lower N 2 O Emissions Than Cropland CH 4 uptake (g C ha -1 d -1 ) CH 4 0 Hedgerow system Shelterbelt system Silvopasture system

29 Other Projects Underway: Impact of Defoliation & Drought on Forage and GHG

30 Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing Impacts on Pasture Production, Health, Soil C and GHGs Evaluating AMP impacts at 23 paired ranch locations across the prairie provinces

31 Livestock effects on biodiversity [Livestock production] also competes with biodiversity, and promotes species extinctions Eshel et al Land, irrigation water, greenhouse gas, and reactive nitrogen burdens of meat, eggs, and dairy production in the United States. PNAS 111:

32 Benefits : Biodiversity: the variety of life in a particular ecosystem. Resilience Wildlife values Conservation values Coupland and Johnson

33 Cultivated land reduces plant species richness in grasslands Vascular Plant Species Richness x10 5 3x10 5 4x10 5 5x10 5 6x10 5 7x10 5 Human Footprint - Crop (m 2 )

34 Moderate grazing increases plant diversity Plant diversity peaked in mod-high rainfall areas A greater proportion of species under high rainfall was comprised of grazing tolerant, introduced plant species + +

35 Cattle stocking rates and plant diversity

36 Range sites: PC_RS communities Grazing creates patches Range sites (Soils + Topography) Plant communities RH_Avg Weighted range health score

37 Grassland as Key Habitat for Over 180 species of bee Pollinators

38 Species Richness Regions with more grassland have more bees % Grassland cover (2 km)

39 Bee abundance Bee richness Healthier Grasslands Have More Bees Rangeland Health Score

40 Summary Native grasslands provide abundant EG & S in comparison to croplands Carbon storage and GHG uptake Soil health Biodiversity Pollination Moderate grazing can increase EG & S Mechanisms are needed to transfer values for these services to landowners

41 Acknowledgements Edward Bork, Mark Lyseng, Donald Schoderbek, Sean Chuan, Ekaterina Stolnikova, Monica Kohler, Ashton Sturm, Scott Chang, Guillermo Hernandez- Ramirez, Christina Hebb, JC Cahill, Ben Willing, Daniel Hewins, Tan Bao, Craig DeMaere, Tim McAllister, Danielle de Souza, Ahsan Rajper, Baka Amgaa, Funding: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Program