Studies on Methane Emissions from Pastoral Farming in New Zealand

作     者：LI Meng-meng ZHANG Gui-guo SUN Xue-zhao DONG Shu-ting Simone O Hoskin 

作者机构：College of Animal Science and TechnologyShandong Agricultural University College of Animal Science and TechnologyChina Agricultural University Grasslands Research CentreAgResearch LimitedPrivate Bag 11008 

出 版 物：《Journal of Integrative Agriculture》 (农业科学学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2014年第13卷第2期

页      面：365-377页

核心收录：

学科分类：07[理学] 0713[理学-生态学] 

基　　金：the New Zealand government for the Livestock Emissions and Abatement Research Network(LEARN)fellowship 

主　　题：methane New Zealand pastoral fanning 

摘      要：The aim of this paper was to give a basic understanding of studies on methane emissions of New Zealand, as we know the agriculture of New Zealand is pastoral farming, most livestock animals are grazed in pasture, and quantities of methane were released from the digestive tract and animals excreta. In New Zealand some 50% greenhouse gases （GHG） sources are attributed to agriculture and one third is methane from livestock enteric formation. For many years, many researchers have been exploiting the techniques and methods to measure the emission of methane of New Zealand, further more studing the available options to alleviate the methane emissions. Their pioneering work and successful experiences including the determined methods and mitigation strategies are worth learning for scholars around the world. Some of their approaches were not only suitable for New Zealand grazed livestock, but for many other countries, even the animals are intensively bred in pen. The calorimeter/respiration chamber is the most exactly method in present, but it needs expensive equipments and skilled manipulators, so there are still some difficulty in applying this approach extensively in practice. Sulfur hexafluoride （SF6） trace technique is much adopted for grazed livestock evaluating the methane emission, though its veracity was doubted by some researchers, it is still a good option in present for studying the GHG emissions for grazing animals. By measuring the rumen volatile fatty acid （VFA） concentration to estimate the methane emission is a relatively simple approach, it is just only a rough evaluation, and it is unsuitable for exact study, but this method may be used in China for extensively raised ruminant. In present China, the ruminants are fed in an extensively managed state, the diversities of roughage and animals varieties caused difficult to exactly estimate the methane emission. So exploiting the available options is much important for constituting the exhaustive emission inven