Greenhouse Gases emissions from soil with feces and urine from beef cattle in the Amazon Southwest region

Author(s)

Marilia Barbosa Chiavegato

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Piracicaba.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA/STB)
• Defense date: 2010-09-13

Examining board members

Carlos Clemente Cerri; Magda Aparecida de Lima; Jorge de Lucas Junior

• Advisor: Carlos Clemente Cerri

Abstract

Global warming and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere represent one of the major challenges to modern society. Livestock production contributes mainly to methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Brazil has the largest commercial cattle herd in the world and accordingly contributes a significant amount to global emissions levels of these gases. Methane emissions are mainly from enteric fermentation and feces deposition on soils under pastures. Nitrous oxide emissions occur from urine deposition on soils under pastures. Emission factors that are used to quantify livestock emissions were defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and were developed based on studies conducted in temperate regions. However, it is necessary to determine specific emission factors that reflect the reality of Brazilian tropical conditions allowing accurate GHG emissions quantification. This study aims to quantify CH4 emissions from feces and N2O from urine of beef cattle deposited on soils under pastures. It also intends to verify the interference of different animal managements, weather and intrinsic manure factors on emissions levels. The research was conducted on a private property (Agropecuária Nova Vida) located in Ariquemes, RO. The Farms main activity is beef cattle production based on grazing and semi-confinement systems. Emissions of CH4 and N2O are quantified on two experimental areas: pasture without coverage and pastures with coverage protecting the samples from direct sunlight and rainfall. In addition to gases sampling (10 days) on feces moisture, temperature and carbon content are monitored. Moisture and nitrogen content in the soil with urine deposition are monitored at different depths (0-3 cm, 3-6 cm, 6-10 cm, 10-15 cm, 15-20 cm). Additionally, we have quantified CH4 and N2O emissions from soil without manure deposition as a control treatment. We have found statistically different emissions levels between soils with and without manure. Moisture on feces had a statistical significant effect on CH4 emissions from feces. Nitrous oxide production is extremely variable with temporal and seasonal variations. The effect of diet on gases production in manure is not evaluated due to methodological problems. The estimations for emission factors are: 0.6 kg CH4-C animal-1 year-1 and 0.05 kg N2O-N kg N-1 for feces and urine deposited in the soil, respectively. The GHG balance of the whole farm is calculated considering all sources of emission and the C stocks in pastures. The annual net emissions for the farm are determined as 5350 Mg C equivalent. Methodological limitations provided partial results. Future research is suggested to achieve better estimations on CH4 and N2O emissions from beef cattle feces and urine in tropical climate (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 08/07823-4 - Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock: a case study in the Amazon region
• Grantee: Marilia Barbosa Chiavegato
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master