Scientists think there are nearly 9 million unique species of life on the planet (not counting the near-infinite variations of bacteria), each of which has adapted to fit a specific role in its environment. This variety is called biodiversity.
In smaller environments such as rainforests, rivers, and even farms, biodiversity is the genetic variability that gives every ecosystem its adaptability and resilience. However, farms are ecosystems, too. With increasing worry over how animal agriculture affects the environment, people are also wondering if cattle pose a threat to biodiversity.
Biodiversity Is Part Of A Well-Functioning Farm
On biodiverse farms, soil microbes, plants, livestock, and wildlife all participate in a nutrient cycle that produces food and other products to benefit the community. For example, microbes provide nutrients to plants, which house birds and insects that pollinate and deter pests. For beef or dairy farms, livestock should upcycle plant matter into human-appropriate protein while recycling some nutrients into fertilizer for the microbes – in theory.
In Practice, Cattle Often Reduce Biodiversity
Unfortunately, industrial animal agriculture is a massive threat to biodiversity in practice. When farms expand, they destroy pre-existing ecosystems, use pesticides and herbicides, and overgraze to maximize profit. This approach has devastating consequences for the environment and the people who rely on it for a functioning food system.
Large Operations Destroy Forests And Other Habitats
Expanding cropland and grazing fields is one of the main destroyers of biodiversity. Of course, converting any natural habitat into agricultural land will have an impact. Still, livestock requires so much more land to produce food that it destroys native plants, animals, and habitats at a much higher rate.
Cattle farming worldwide is responsible for a tremendous rate of deforestation, most notably in the Amazon, where tens of thousands of acres home to billions of lifeforms have fallen to the saws of a voracious industry. The deforestation of such areas is particularly egregious since they have the planet's highest biodiversity rates. Converting them to agricultural land releases enormous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and eliminates vast swathes of plant and animal habitats.
For Efficiency, Cows Eat A Narrow Diet
Most of the land used for intensive animal agriculture is home to very few plant species. Farmers looking to get the highest productivity out of their investment feed their cows the most nutritionally dense food available. Unfortunately, most cattle feed comes from large monoculture operations that remove all competing species with chemical herbicides. In addition, chemical pesticides often remove animal life indiscriminately, including natural pesticides like birds and some insects.
Overgrazing Damages Plants And The Soil
Poorly managed cattle overgraze their rangeland or enclosures, posing a massive threat to biodiversity and other aspects of environmental health. First, the weight of the animals themselves damages or kills plants, allowing invasive species and weeds to overtake the native plants that are no longer competitive. In addition, the animals' bulk compacts the soil, reducing the water filtration rate, which (coupled with fewer plants overall) leaves the land much more susceptible to erosion.
Animal Agriculture Pollutes The Water
Erosion is an obvious form of destruction that endangers plant and animal biodiversity. However, animal agriculture does not only threaten plant and animal life on land. When overgrazing eliminates plants from the ground, unused nutrients in the soil build-up and leech into the groundwater. Furthermore, eroded soil allows increased water runoff, which carries even more nutrients (including high nitrogen-content animal manure) into local streams and waterways.
Adding nutrients to waterways may seem reasonable, but they disrupt the preexisting balance. The nutrients in animal wastewater runoff cause algae to grow more quickly. In turn, the algae consume much of the oxygen in the water, which can kill bacteria, fish, and other wildlife – and the consequences for biodiversity continue in a chain.
Good Cattle Management May Increase Biodiversity
Luckily, not all cattle are destructive to biodiversity. Often, the opposite is true. A recent meta-analysis of over 180 studies on farm biodiversity suggests that the impact of livestock on biodiversity is a complicated issue. For instance, studies found a positive effect on biodiversity when the cattle were managed as part of a complex ecosystem. But on the other hand, studies of intensive cattle farming nearly always found that cattle had a deleterious effect on farmland biodiversity.
Another study about regenerative grazing management highlighted several notable effects cattle can have on biodiversity, both positive and negative. The research concluded that a rotational grazing approach to cattle management could be part of a broader effort to improve farmland biodiversity.
Most Cattle Farms Limit, But Others Promote Biodiversity
Animal agriculture is responsible for a tremendous decline in biodiversity in habitats worldwide. Deforestation, monoculture, overgrazing, and land erosion threaten the biodiversity of our food system. However, research suggests the fault is not in the cattle but in our management systems. Studies have shown animal agriculture can promote biodiversity. Hopefully, with enough awareness and consumer demand, regenerative management systems can help displace the entrenched industrial farming system.
Key Takeaways
Diversify Your Garden – You can improve the biodiversity in your backyard by planting a garden with a variety of heirloom seeds. They are non-GMO (i.e., not genetically modified), bred for reliability, and delicious!
Join a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture programs are excellent ways to learn about, support, and participate in more sustainable agriculture. Most CSAs are tied directly to small local farms that grow diverse, healthy, and often organic produce.
Choose Sustainable – Whether you want to reduce your meat intake or not, there are options to improve the sustainability of your diet. Most of them involve small farms. Do your best to pick a diet packed with nutrition from facilities with short supply chains that don't practice monoculture!
Scientists think there are nearly 9 million unique species of life on the planet (not counting the near-infinite variations of bacteria), each of which has adapted to fit a specific role in its environment. This variety is called biodiversity.
In smaller environments such as rainforests, rivers, and even farms, biodiversity is the genetic variability that gives every ecosystem its adaptability and resilience. However, farms are ecosystems, too. With increasing worry over how animal agriculture affects the environment, people are also wondering if cattle pose a threat to biodiversity.
Biodiversity Is Part of a Well-Functioning Farm
On biodiverse farms, soil microbes, plants, livestock, and wildlife all participate in a nutrient cycle that produces food and other products to benefit the community. For example, microbes provide nutrients to plants, which house birds and insects that pollinate and deter pests. For beef or dairy farms, livestock should upcycle plant matter into human-appropriate protein while recycling some nutrients into fertilizer for the microbes – in theory.
In Practice, Cattle Often Reduce Biodiversity
Unfortunately, industrial animal agriculture is a massive threat to biodiversity in practice. When farms expand, they destroy pre-existing ecosystems, use pesticides and herbicides, and overgraze to maximize profit. This approach has devastating consequences for the environment and the people who rely on it for a functioning food system.
Large Operations Destroy Forests and Other Habitats
Expanding cropland and grazing fields is one of the main destroyers of biodiversity. Of course, converting any natural habitat into agricultural land will have an impact. Still, livestock requires so much more land to produce food that it destroys native plants, animals, and habitats at a much higher rate.
Cattle farming worldwide is responsible for a tremendous rate of deforestation, most notably in the Amazon, where tens of thousands of acres home to billions of lifeforms have fallen to the saws of a voracious industry. The deforestation of such areas is particularly egregious since they have the planet's highest biodiversity rates. Converting them to agricultural land releases enormous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and eliminates vast swathes of plant and animal habitats.
For Efficiency, Cows Eat a Narrow Diet
Most of the land used for intensive animal agriculture is home to very few plant species. Farmers looking to get the highest productivity out of their investment feed their cows the most nutritionally dense food available. Unfortunately, most cattle feed comes from large monoculture operations that remove all competing species with chemical herbicides. In addition, chemical pesticides often remove animal life indiscriminately, including natural pesticides like birds and some insects.
Overgrazing Damages Plants and the Soil
Poorly managed cattle overgraze their rangeland or enclosures, posing a massive threat to biodiversity and other aspects of environmental health. First, the weight of the animals themselves damages or kills plants, allowing invasive species and weeds to overtake the native plants that are no longer competitive. In addition, the animals' bulk compacts the soil, reducing the water filtration rate, which (coupled with fewer plants overall) leaves the land much more susceptible to erosion.
Animal Agriculture Pollutes the Water
Erosion is an obvious form of destruction that endangers plant and animal biodiversity. However, animal agriculture does not only threaten plant and animal life on land. When overgrazing eliminates plants from the ground, unused nutrients in the soil build-up and leech into the groundwater. Furthermore, eroded soil allows increased water runoff, which carries even more nutrients (including high nitrogen-content animal manure) into local streams and waterways.
Adding nutrients to waterways may seem reasonable, but they disrupt the preexisting balance. The nutrients in animal wastewater runoff cause algae to grow more quickly. In turn, the algae consume much of the oxygen in the water, which can kill bacteria, fish, and other wildlife – and the consequences for biodiversity continue in a chain.
Good Cattle Management May Increase Biodiversity
Luckily, not all cattle are destructive to biodiversity. Often, the opposite is true. A recent meta-analysis of over 180 studies on farm biodiversity suggests that the impact of livestock on biodiversity is a complicated issue. For instance, studies found a positive effect on biodiversity when the cattle were managed as part of a complex ecosystem. But on the other hand, studies of intensive cattle farming nearly always found that cattle had a deleterious effect on farmland biodiversity.
Another study about regenerative grazing management highlighted several notable effects cattle can have on biodiversity, both positive and negative. The research concluded that a rotational grazing approach to cattle management could be part of a broader effort to improve farmland biodiversity.
Most Cattle Farms Limit, But Others Promote Biodiversity
Animal agriculture is responsible for a tremendous decline in biodiversity in habitats worldwide. Deforestation, monoculture, overgrazing, and land erosion threaten the biodiversity of our food system. However, research suggests the fault is not in the cattle but in our management systems. Studies have shown animal agriculture can promote biodiversity. Hopefully, with enough awareness and consumer demand, regenerative management systems can help displace the entrenched industrial farming system.
Key Takeaways
Diversify Your Garden – You can improve the biodiversity in your backyard by planting a garden with a variety of heirloom seeds. They are non-GMO (i.e., not genetically modified), bred for reliability, and delicious!
Join a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture programs are excellent ways to learn about, support, and participate in more sustainable agriculture. Most CSAs are tied directly to small local farms that grow diverse, healthy, and often organic produce.
Choose Sustainable – Whether you want to reduce your meat intake or not, there are options to improve the sustainability of your diet. Most of them involve small farms. Do your best to pick a diet packed with nutrition from facilities with short supply chains that don't practice monoculture!
