A climate-dependent global model of ammonia emissions from chicken farming

oleh: J. Jiang, D. S. Stevenson, A. Uwizeye, G. Tempio, M. A. Sutton

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Copernicus Publications 2021-01-01

Deskripsi

<p>Ammonia (NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span>) has significant impacts on the environment, which can influence climate and air quality and cause acidification and eutrophication in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Agricultural activities are the main sources of NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> emissions globally. Emissions of NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> from chicken farming are highly dependent on climate, affecting their environmental footprint and impact. In order to investigate the effects of meteorological factors and to quantify how climate change affects these emissions, a process-based model, AMmonia–CLIMate–Poultry (AMCLIM–Poultry), has been developed to simulate and predict temporal variations in NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> emissions from poultry excretion, here focusing on chicken farms and manure spreading. The model simulates the decomposition of uric acid to form total ammoniacal nitrogen, which then partitions into gaseous NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> that is released to the atmosphere at an hourly to daily resolution. Ammonia emissions are simulated by calculating nitrogen and moisture budgets within poultry excretion, including a dependence on environmental variables. By applying the model with global data for livestock, agricultural practice and meteorology, we calculate NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> emissions from chicken farming on a global scale (0.5<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span> resolution). Based on 2010 data, the AMCLIM–Poultry model estimates NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> emissions from global chicken farming of 5.5 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 1.2 Tg N yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>, about 13 % of the agriculture-derived NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> emissions. Taking account of partial control of the ambient environment for housed chicken (layers and broilers), the fraction of excreted nitrogen emitted as NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> is found to be up to 3 times larger in humid tropical locations than in cold or dry locations. For spreading of manure to land, rain becomes a critical driver affecting emissions in addition to temperature, with the emission fraction being up to 5 times larger in the semi-dry tropics than in cold, wet climates. The results highlight the importance of incorporating climate effects into global NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> emissions inventories for agricultural sources. The model shows increased emissions under warm and wet conditions, indicating that climate change will tend to increase NH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> emissions over the coming century.</p>