Posted on 05/28/2024 6:44:10 AM PDT by SJackson
When it comes to carbon sequestration and the natural world, many efforts go into planting more trees. But large land mammals also have a significant role to play.
A new study analyzing the climate impacts of a small herd of European bison in Romania discovered that the bovine increased the surrounding grasslands’ carbon capture capacity by a factor of 10.
This is thanks in large part to the animals’ immense bulk, as their hooves regularly compact the soil, which allows it to trap more carbon.
Bovines often get a bad rap as big emitters of methane, an ultra potent greenhouse gas. It’s estimated that livestock contribute to roughly 14.5 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions, largely due to burps and other bodily excretions. However, other, more wild members of the family Bovidae are actually a net positive in the world’s fight against rising temperatures.
Take, for instance, the European bison (Bison bonasus). The largest herbivore in Europe, this majestic bovine once roamed vast stretches of the continent until human poaching dwindled their numbers to extinction in the wild. Thankfully, captive breeding programs reintroduced the species in several parts of Europe in the 2010s.
One of those areas was a region of Romania that hadn’t seen European bison for more than 200 years. In 2014, 17 of these bison arrived at the Țarcu mountains in the southern Carpathians, and now their numbers have climbed tenfold. That continued increase, according to researchers, could have a big impact on carbon sequestration.
As such a large species, the bison have an equally large impact on their environment. They fertilize grasses and spread seeds, which promotes plant growth and further carbon removal. However, they’re greatest contribution just might be their huge bulk. That’s because bison compact soil as they roam across Europe, which allows it to lock away more carbon.
According to a non-peer reviewed modeling study (based on a peer-reviewed model), the Țarcu grasslands currently lock away 10 times more carbon that they did when the bison were absent from the ecosystem. To put some numbers to it, that means that 20 square miles of grassland are locking away 54,000 tons of carbon—roughly the annual CO2 emissions of 43,000 cars.
“These creatures evolved for millions of years with grassland and forest ecosystems, and their removal, especially where grasslands have been plowed up, has led to the release of vast amounts of carbon,” Oswald Schmitz, the lead author of the study, told The Guardian. “Restoring these ecosystems can bring back balance, and ‘rewilded’ bison are some of the climate heroes that can help achieve this.”
And the bison aren’t the only heroes. A previous study by Schmitz revealed that if humanity only focused on rewilding nine specific animal groups—marine fish, whales, sharks, gray wolves, wildebeest, sea otters, musk oxen, African forest elephants, and American bison—the planet could absorb an additional 6.4 billion tons of carbon. That’s close to the annual carbon footprint of the U.S.—the second largest emitter of greenhouse gasses.
Conservationists will continue to try to protect and rewild all species for their myriad benefits outside of carbon sequestration, but this study reiterates how large land mammals can play a big role in tackling CO2 emissions. While the millions of cows kept in captivity around the world is still an undeniable climate disaster, this small-yet-mighty herd of bison shows that bovines also have a positive role to play in the fight against a warming world.
Unpopular Idiots.
Along with their sidekick Unpopular Science.
Almost like God knows better than proglibs. ALMOST.
BTW it was an attempt to recover the Soviet K-129 sub (had to look up her hull number) and her nuclear missiles.
Which was a good idea 💡.
Did they fail? Well they claimed that they did.
Years from now when this global warming religion is thoroughly debunked, people will look back on articles like this and laugh and say, “Did people really believe that in those days?
*Science* can NEVER make up its mind.
First it’s good. Then it’s bad. Then it’s good again, until ooopsssss.....
I like buffalos better than giant wind-fans and solar panels, sounds good to me.
The world has two kinds of people:
1. Those who think of nothing but RACE RACE RACE.
2. Those who think of nothing but CO2 CO2 CO2.
But it’s nice to see somebody rehabilitating ruminants, even if it is only because their hooves leave deep impressions in the soil.
It just goes to show the folly of “science” these days. One day you are the most evil creature on the planet, the next you’re a hero. It’s just like the old Soviet Union.
I read a similar article on Siberia. A Russian scientist had calculated that by allowing the big mammals like Yaks, Bison, Elk and Moose to thrive again it would delay permafrost melting by like 2 centuries. Apparently they are being over-hunted now.
It seems besides the stamping of feet they concentrate on eating shoots of young trees. Keeping the area steppe and tundra. When the grasslands are allowed to become forests the dark foliage in the summer absorbs a LOT more heat due to the changed Albido. The grasslands in summer are light gray and reflect most of the light , allowing the ground to remain frozen just a few inches deep.
seems a cheap and easy way to keep the far north cold another 200 years.
https://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/sergey-zimov-thawing-permafrost-direct-threat-climate
Who would have thought it.
This isn't science. It is propaganda labeled as science "scientism".
Sheesh even Popular Mechanics has the cancer. Every public facing entity has been hijacked
Bison are very efficient at sequestering carbon, as long as they are alive. Then they die and, as they decompose, they release all the carbon they captured during their growth cycle.
For bison to sequester carbon for a long time, they have to be turned into coal. This is technically feasible, but it requires an assist from Mother Nature and a lot of time.
The same is true of all living plants and animals.
Carbon sequestration over the lifecycle of plants and animals is so trivial as to be irrelevant. Whatever position one takes in the CO2 wars, the issue is about the release of geologically stored carbon, not hamburger production. Or ethanol production, in which a corn plant is planted in (say) April or early May and harvested and processed in September or October, with CO2 as a net wash over that period.
Bison don’t fart?
But cow farts are a problem? Bison are just big cows.
Why would they lie?
Bison? Stop being stupid. Trees absorb a million times more CO2.
The global warmism is BS.
BUT ...
Bison meat is ‘good eats’. I prefer it to domesticated beef.
According to wikihahahapedia, bison meat is kosher.
So raising more bison can be a good thing!
Only because it was the only place the J School graduate could get a job.
So much of the Climate Crisis is about selling newspapers, magazines, stick with us for breaking news, or getting clicks on YouTube today. Meaning the more outrageous the headline, the more likely someone is going to read it. If you put the polar bear floating on the ice berg on the cover of Time magazine they are more likely to buy it.
Now, IF you make a click bait statement, someone is more likely to read your stupid article on the internet or watch your video on YouTube. The more clicks, the more you make.
There will never be a headline that reads “all is well, no reason to worry, have a nice day”
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