Bundles of services make it possible to identify trade-offs and options for livestock production areas

Abstract

Livestock is a major actor of rural landscape and economics across Europe. It has however focused various controversies as regards to its environmental impacts, and the consequences of industrial production systems on animal welfare. Bundles of services account for both livestock positive and negative effects that simultaneously occur within territories. Mapping ecosystem services at a large scale (from landscape to the European Union) reveals a frequent antagonism between provisioning services on the one hand, and regulating and cultural services on the other hand. These maps mostly account for the impacts and services provided by the main farming systems in each area. Analyzing trade-offs at a finer scale (from plot to landscape) reveals various opportunities to achieve ‘win-win’ situations that would preserve the environment while maintaining provisioning services. These are based on non-linear relationships between ecosystem services, grazing periods, spatial heterogeneity, system diversification, and organizational innovations between farming systems of a given area. Scenario exploration allows representing alternative dynamics for the European livestock sector in response to climate change, land use change resulting from shifts in livestock feeding, and/or a drop in animal protein consumption across Europe. We conclude by pointing out key research issues that would allow valuing the diversity of services provided by the livestock sector.