Scottish researchers are playing a key role in a UK-wide project aimed at transforming grasslands for net zero.
Scientists at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) based in the Highlands and Aberdeen will measure greenhouse gas emissions from grazing livestock, as well as analyse soil health and carbon storage in lowland and upland grass.
The Scotland-based research has received a £566,000 grant from UKRI’s Transforming Land Use for Net Zero (LUNZ), Nature and People programme. It is part of a wider project led by the University of the West of England, which aims to help the UK achieve its mitigation goals, with “the potential to help the UK save more than £1.6 billion annually”.
At SRUC’s Hill & Mountain Research Centre near Loch Lomond, scientists will assess effects of different grazing strategies in upland lamb production on soil, greenhouse gas emissions, productivity and efficiency.
Self-selection of where to graze by individuals within the flock of 600 hill sheep will be monitored via animal locational recording and GPS tracking. Methane emissions will be measured from individual sheep using the portable GreenSheep facility, alongside growth, body conditions, maternal traits, and welfare.
On SRUC’s farm in Aberdeen, the project will utilise a long-term experiment to investigate the carbon storage potential of short-term leys in arable rotations. This experiment offers a unique opportunity to follow grazed mixed herbal leys through their lifetime and subsequent incorporation for arable production. Gaseous losses of carbon and nitrogen will be measured throughout the entire rotation.
SRUC will also lead one of six UK Land Use Clusters for Agroecology (LUCAs), each designed to engage with a range of farmers and land managers. The Scottish cluster will address the use of rotational grazing and agri-tech for improved grassland management and understanding the role of vegetation type in soil carbon storage.
Working with a wide group of stakeholders to identify public priorities and trade-offs with respect to ecosystem services, the valuation of ecosystem services will help to inform future support measures.
Professor Christine Watson, who is leading the SRUC research, said, “This a really exciting project where we are able to contribute a considerable range of expertise, across grasslands, ecology, animal science and modelling, in helping to truly understand the climate change mitigation potential of UK grassland.”