Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
environmental science
Increasing importance of precipitation variability on global livestock grazing lands
Nature Climate Change, Volume 8, No. 3, Year 2018
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Pastures and rangelands underpin global meat and milk production and are a critical resource for millions of people dependent on livestock for food security 1,2 . Forage growth, which is highly climate dependent 3,4, is potentially vulnerable to climate change, although precisely where and to what extent remains relatively unexplored. In this study, we assess climate-based threats to global pastures, with a specific focus on changes in within- and between-year precipitation variability (precipitation concentration index (PCI) and coefficient of variation of precipitation (CVP), respectively). Relating global satellite measures of vegetation greenness (such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index; NDVI) to key climatic factors reveals that CVP is a significant, yet often overlooked, constraint on vegetation productivity across global pastures. Using independent stocking data, we found that areas with high CVP support lower livestock densities than less-variable regions. Globally, pastures experience about a 25% greater year-to-year precipitation variation (CVP = 0.27) than the average global land surface area (0.21). Over the past century, CVP has generally increased across pasture areas, although both positive (49% of pasture area) and negative (31% of pasture area) trends exist. We identify regions in which livestock grazing is important for local food access and economies, and discuss the potential for pasture intensification in the context of long-term regional trends in precipitation variability. © 2018 The Author(s).
Authors & Co-Authors
Sloat, Lindsey L.
United States, Minneapolis
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Gerber, James S.
United States, Minneapolis
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Smith, William Kolby
United States, Minneapolis
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
United States, Tucson
The University of Arizona
Herrero, Mario
Australia, Canberra
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Godde, Cécile M.
Australia, Canberra
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
West, Paul C.
United States, Minneapolis
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Statistics
Citations: 149
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/s41558-018-0081-5
ISSN:
1758678X
Research Areas
Environmental
Food Security
Health System And Policy