Ver artículo

Grasslands account for about 20% of the terrestrial C02 fluxes of the global carbon cycle. They have a similar share in global soil organic carbon. Grasslands are likely to contribute to a global biotic carbon sequestration, reducing the rate of increase of atmospheric C02•-Methane (CH4) uptake rates and nitrous oxide (N20) emissions are given for established grassland and neighbouring forest-floor soils in Japan. Under aerobic conditions grassland and forest soils act as a sink for atmospheric CH4. The global terrestrial uptake rate for CH4 is estimated to range between 7 and 78 Tg CH4 per year. The sink strength of grasslands is about 8.5% at most of total terrestrial CH4 consumption. Methane absorption of grassland soils is less than about one tenth of the emission of the cattle. Improving fodder quality can reduce ruminant methane emission. Even when fertilised, grasslands emit probably less nitrous oxide than forest soils.