Effects of grazing on grassland soil carbon: a global review
Abstract
Soils of grasslands represent a large potential reservoir for storingCO2, but this potential likely depends on how grasslands are managed for large mammal grazing. Previous studies found both strong positive and negative grazing effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) but explanations for this variation are poorly developed. Expanding on previous reviews, we performed a multifactorial meta‐analysis of grazer effects on SOC density on 47 independent experimental contrasts from 17 studies. We explicitly tested hypotheses that grazer effects would shift from negative to positive with decreasing precipitation, increasing fineness of soil texture, transition from dominant grass species with C 3 to C 4 photosynthesis, and decreasing grazing intensity, after controlling for study duration and sampling depth. The six variables of soil texture, precipitation, grass type, grazing intensity, study duration, and sampling depth explained 85% of a large variation (±150 g m−2 yr−1) in grazing effects, and the best model included significant interactions between precipitation and soil texture (P = 0.002), grass type, and grazing intensity (P = 0.012), and study duration and soil sampling depth (P = 0.020). Specifically, an increase in mean annual precipitation of 600 mm resulted in a 24%decrease in grazer effect size on finer textured soils, while on sandy soils the same increase in precipitation produced a 22%increase in grazer effect on SOC. Increasing grazing intensity increased SOC by 6–7% on C 4‐dominated and C 4–C 3 mixed grasslands, but decreased SOC by an average 18% in C 3‐dominated grasslands. We discovered these patterns despite a lack of studies in natural, wildlife‐dominated ecosystems, and tropical grasslands. Our results, which suggest a future focus on why C 3 vs. C 4‐dominated grasslands differ so strongly in their response of SOC to grazing, show that grazer effects on SOC are highly context‐specific and imply that grazers in different regions might be managed differently to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
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Heavy grazing decreases soil organic carbon content in grassland dominated by C3 photosynthetic pathway vegetation and increases soil organic carbon content in mixed and C4 photosynthetic-type grasslands.
“A meta-analysis of studies found that heavy grazing decreases soil organic carbon content in grassland dominated by vegetation of the C3 photosynthetic pathway and increased soil organic carbon content in mixed and C4 photosynthetic-type grasslands (37).”
From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [37]
Grazing cattle on dry rangeland with little to no carbon opportunity cost could have a small carbon footprint when the grazing also increases soil organic carbon.
“This suggests that grazing cattle on dry rangeland with little to no carbon opportunity cost could have a small carbon footprint when the grazing also increases soil organic carbon, as has been observed in some studies of dry rangeland with finer textured soil [12].”
From Carbon opportunity cost increases carbon footprint advantage of grain-finished beef (2023) · cites this paper as [12]
Large soil carbon sequestration rates are only possible under particular agro-ecological conditions and for a limited time period.
“Yet large soil carbon sequestration rates are only possible under particular agro-ecological conditions and for a limited time period [9, 12].”
From Carbon opportunity cost increases carbon footprint advantage of grain-finished beef (2023) · cites this paper as [12]
There is evidence that increasing grazing intensity may have different effects in C3 versus C4 dominated pastures.
“Additionally, there is evidence that increasing grazing intensity may have different effects in C3 versus C4 dominated pastures [30].”
From Impacts of Rotational Grazing on Soil Carbon in Native Grass-Based Pastures in Southern Australia (2015) · cites this paper as [30]
Soil carbon sequestration is a critical ecosystem service of grasslands that can be maximized using best management practices for livestock grazing.
“Soil C sequestration is a critical ecosystem service of grasslands, which can be maximized using best management practices for livestock grazing”
From Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems (2018) · cites this paper as McSherry and Ritchie, 2013
Measured SOC responses to AMP grazing cannot be extrapolated to other regions, as grazing-mediated SOC changes are highly climate-dependent.
“Importantly, measured SOC responses to AMP grazing cannot be extrapolated to other regions, as grazing-mediated SOC changes are highly climate-dependent (McSherry and Ritchie, 2013).”
From Impact of 10 years of adaptive multi-paddock grazing on soil carbon and beef's greenhouse gas footprint in the US Upper Midwest (2026) · cites this paper as McSherry and Ritchie, 2013
Improved management in fire-prone ecosystems via fire prevention or prescribed burning can increase C sequestration.
“Improved management in fire-prone ecosystems via fire prevention or prescribed burning can also increase C sequestration 32”
From Climate-smart soils (2016) · cites this paper as [32]
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- Authors
- McSherry, M. E., & Ritchie, M. E.
- Affiliations
- Syracuse University (US)
- Corresponding author
- McSherry, Megan E.
- ORCID
- Ritchie, Mark E.
- Venue
- Global Change Biology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-02-26
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1347-1357
- ISSN
- 1354-1013 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2486
- OpenAlex
- W2159741556
- Semantic Scholar
- a52377a919a8b85677bfec322f2eb741fb42f292
- Cited by
- 829
- References
- 77
- Citations by year
- 2026: 77 · 2025: 107 · 2024: 89 · 2023: 78 · 2022: 84 · 2021: 87 · 2020: 74 · 2019: 55 · 2018: 44 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 6
- FWCI
- 3.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Global Change Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Forestry › Pasture and Agricultural Systems
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil erosion and sediment transport
- Keywords
- grazing, soil organic carbon, grazing intensity, precipitation, soil texture, C3 and C4 grasses, carbon sequestration, soil carbon density, grazing management, greenhouse gas emissions reduction
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Carbon, Feeding Behavior, Poaceae, Soil, Ecosystem, Food Chain, Livestock
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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