INVESTIGADORES
MARTINEZ PASTUR Guillermo Jose
artículos
Título:
Carbon Footprint of Lamb and Wool Production at Farm Gate and the Regional Scale in Southern Patagonia
Autor/es:
PERI, PABLO L.; ROSAS, YAMINA M.; LADD, BRENTON; DÍAZ-DELGADO, RICARDO; MARTÍNEZ PASTUR, GUILLERMO
Revista:
Sustainability
Editorial:
MDPI
Referencias:
Lugar: Washington; Año: 2020 vol. 12 p. 3077 - 3077
Resumen:
Natural steppe grasslands are the principal food resource for sheep in the Patagonia region,reared for meat and wool. However, there is currently a concern about the relationship betweenruminant livestock and climate change due to its contribution to anthropogenic greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions. The objective of this study was to determine the carbon footprints (CF) of sheepmeat (lamb) and wool on a range of farms using empirical data collected on farm and then upscaled tothe regional scale using models that use topographic, climatic, and vegetation indices as independentvariables. At the regional level, the total CF of lamb and wool (the combination of emissions producedon farm, via transport, and via industrial processing) varied from 10.64 to 41.32 kg CO2-eq/kg for lambmeat (carcass) and from 7.83 to 18.70 kg CO2-eq/kg for fine-grade wool. For both, the predominantcontribution was from primary production on-farm (75?90%), followed by industrial processing(2?15%), and transportation. We used multiple regression models to produce maps of lamb and woolCF at farm gate across Santa Cruz province. The model for variation of lamb CF explained 95% of thevariance on the data and the most significant predictor variables were temperature seasonality andnormalized dierence vegetation index (NDVI, dimensionless). The most important variables forthe model of CF of greasy wool production at farm gate were isothermality, temperature seasonality,and NVDI explained 98%. The lowest CF values of both products (lamb and wool) were located inmore productive grasslands. The successful management of livestock GHG emissions becomes animportant challenge to the scientific, commercial, and policy communities. The results of CF for lamband wool production found in the present work assist in characterizing the greenhouse gas emissionsprofile of livestock products in Southern Patagonia by providing a baseline against which mitigationactions can be planned and progress monitored.