The neglected contribution of mound-building termites on CH4 emissions in Brazilian pastures

Abstract

Based on previous reports, our study aimed to obtain the first estimate on the contribution of termite mounds to CH 4 emissions in Brazilian Cerrado pastures. We estimated that termite mounds occupy an area larger than 200,000 ha in degraded pastures, an important loss of grazing area considering the current scenario of land-use change of pastures to other crops in Brazil. Moreover, mound-building termites in degraded pastures may be responsible for CH 4 emissions greater than 11 Mt CO 2 eq. yr −1 , which would notably affect the greenhouse gases (GHG) balance of grass-fed cattle production in Brazil. In this sense, it is urgent to conduct field-scale studies about the CH 4 emissions by mound-building termites in pastures and its contribution to the C footprint of Brazilian beef.