Pasture chemoscapes and their ecological services

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Animal Nutrition
• Ecology

Background:

• Ruminant livestock systems face pressure to increase food production while minimizing environmental impact.
• Understanding livestock nutritional ecology offers solutions to balance these demands.
• Forages serve as crucial sources of nutrients and plant secondary compounds (PSC) for agroecosystems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the potential of diverse forages and their chemical composition to improve livestock production and environmental sustainability.
• To explore how plant secondary compounds (PSC) in forages can enhance animal nutrition, health, and reduce emissions.
• To advocate for the design of multifunctional grazing systems optimizing ecosystem services.

Main Methods:

• Review of scientific literature on forage nutritional ecology and plant secondary compounds (PSC).
• Analysis of the impact of PSC-containing legumes (e.g., sainfoin, alfalfa) on livestock and soil.
• Synthesis of findings to propose strategies for future pastoral production systems.

Main Results:

• Legumes with specific PSC can reduce methane emissions and nitrogen excretion in ruminants.
• These forages can increase animal growth rates and improve meat quality.
• PSC also reduce soil nitrogen mobilization and leaching, enhancing soil fertility.

Conclusions:

• Chemically diverse pastoral feeding systems are essential for sustainable livestock production.
• Optimizing forage composition can simultaneously boost productivity and ecosystem services.
• Future research should focus on designing ecoregion-specific, diverse forage systems.