2026/06/11 by Robert S. Powell, Steven J. Davis, David Encarnation +15 · 2 voices
Environmental Science · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology #Rangeland and Wildlife Management #Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
paper · doi:10.1126/science.adz4320
openalex publication_date 2026/06/11 · openalex created_date 2026/06/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Improved rangeland grazing could mitigate climate change through carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sequestration in soils and vegetation. However, altering grazing practices to increase ecosystem carbon storage may also decrease livestock production and/or increase greenhouse gas emissions through the supply chain, such that the net emissions impacts remain unclear. Here, we assess the global net mitigation potential of improving grazing intensity by quantifying potential CO 2 sequestration alongside systems-level impacts of plant productivity changes, livestock emissions, feed requirements, and production constraints. Improving grazing intensity in global rangelands could sequester 2.2 ± 0.43 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (Gt/CO 2 eq) per year in the near term, but maintaining livestock production through supplemental feeding would reduce net mitigation by 2 to 31% (to 1.8 ± 0.45 GT/CO 2 eq per year). Our results suggest that neglecting systems-level emissions impacts may substantially overestimate the global climate benefits of improved grazing.