The document summarizes the work of the GHG Research in Spanish Grasslands group led by Fernando Estellés. The group includes over 30 researchers across 9 research groups studying grasslands and livestock systems. Their work includes diet manipulation experiments, carbon and nitrogen dynamics modeling, life cycle assessments, and sustainability analyses. They have conducted several projects examining methane emissions from dairy cows and carbon dynamics in Pyrenees grasslands. The group aims to model greenhouse gas emissions from grassland-based livestock farms to evaluate mitigation strategies at the farm scale.

1. GHG Research in Spanish
Grasslands
Fernando Estellés
REMEDIA Network

2. Who are we?
9 Research groups
> 30 researchers

3. What we do?

4. Diet
manipulation Sustainability
analysis
Model
development
Carbon and
Nitrogen dynamics
Pastures
management
Forests
systems
What we do?
LCA
 Animal level
 Pasture level

5. On-going and past projects
Effects of plant fats and oils on methane production and
performance of lactating dairy cows.
Carbon dynamics in the Pyrenees: first time assessment
with ecosystem fluxes, isotopic marking and plant guilds.
Assessment of the sustainability of dairy sheep grazing
system in Cantabrian Mountains, integrating productive,
environmental and socio-economic aspects

6. On-going and past projects
Grassland-based livestock systems GHG modelling
Sustainability analysis of livestock production systems:
economical, social and environmental indicators
Optimizing forage and milk production through sustainable
and competitive management systems, protecting the
environment, promoting animal health and ensuring healthy
milk supply, improving final product quality

7. What we propose?
Farm-scale modelling
Simulation of mitigation methods with system-based
approaches at the farm scale

8. How can I reach you?
Mª José Alonso
Spanish Office for Climate
Change. Focal Point for GRA
GRA@magrama.es
Agustín del Prado
agustin.delprado@bc3research.org
Fernando Estellés
feresbar@upv.es

9. Further info…
A compilation of short group
presentations is included in the next
slides…

10. Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña (CSIC-Universidad de León)
Finca Marzanas s/n. 24346 Grulleros, León, Spain
F. Javier Giráldez García
Ángel Ruiz-Mantecón
Secundino López Puente
M. Luisa Tejido Mediavilla
M. Paz Lavín González
Sonia Andrés Llorente

11. Título: Plants and their extracts and other natural alternatives to antimicrobials in feeds-REPLACE.
Organismo financiador: Unión Europea (Contrato FOOD-CT-2004-506487-Sixth Framework
Programme)
Entidades participantes: Varias a nivel europeo
Duración: desde 2004 hasta 2008
Investigador responsable: Dr. Secundino López Puente
Título: Effects of plant fats and oils on methane production and performance of lactating dairy
cows.
Organismo financiador: NUTRECO Nederland B.V (contrato asociado a proyecto financiado por
el Gobierno Holandés).
Entidades participantes: IGM (CSIC-ULE)
Duración: desde 11.01.2012 hasta 11.07.2012
Investigador responsable: Dr. F. Javier Giráldez García

12. Solsona
La Bertolina
1300m a.s.l
Castellar de n’Hug
1900 m a.s.l
Riart
900m a.s.l
Situación de los sites instrumentados:
PLA DE RIART
1003 m asl
Crop /forage grazed
LA BERTOLINA
1300 m asl
Grazed grassland
CASTELLAR DE N’HUG
2000 m asl
Grazed grassland

13. Nuria Altimir Post-Doc Marie Curie Fellow
ECOFUN-Group of Functional Ecology and Global
Change
CTFC-Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya
Ctra. Sant Llorenç de Morunys,
25280 Solsona, Spain
Office +34 973 481 752
nuria.altimir@ctfc.cat
http://ecofun.ctfc.cat/
CAPACITI (2011-2013): Carbon dynamics
in the Pyrenees: first time assessment
with ecosystem fluxes, isotopic marking
and plant guilds.
Proyecto para la caracterización del
ecosistema en los sites :
CONTINUOUS
Ecosystem-scale fluxes
( CO2, water vapour, energy)
Temperature, RH, P
Soil status
Radiation
FREQUENT
Biomas
Leaf Area Index
C and N content
δ13C air, leaf, roots, soil
Floristic inventory
Phenological inventory
Photographic monitoring
Chamber-based fluxes (CO2, N2O,
CH4)
Medidas :

14. Affiliation: Department of Animal and
Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian
University of Life Sciences (UMB), P.O. Box
5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway
Raimon Ripoll-Bosch (PhD)
Margalida Joy (PhD)
Isabel Casasús (PhD)
Albina Sanz (PhD)
Affiliation: Centro de Investigación y
Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón
(CITA), Avda. Montañana 930, 50059
Zaragoza, Spain
Alberto Bernués (PhD)
• Life cycle assessment framework and with the carbon footprint assessment of
livestock farming systems with different degree of intensification.
• In vitro evaluation of methane emissions. The ongoing research is focused
towards the evaluation of different dietary strategies in order to reduce methane
emissions from ruminants.
• Evaluation of vegetation dynamics in pasture-based livestock farming systems.
The group has experience in:

15. Multidisciplinary Research Group of The University of the
Basque Country (EHU) and NEIKER-Tecnalia
Research topic:
Assessment of the sustainability of dairy sheep grazing
system in Cantabrian Mountains, integrating productive,
environmental and socio-economic aspects
Main researchers:
Dr. Luis Javier Rodríguez Barrón (QUALITY AND SECURITY OF ANIMAL FOOD, EHU)
Dra. Arantza Aldezabal (GRAZING ECOLOGY, EHU)
Dr. Iker Etxano (ECOLOGICAL ECONOMY, EHU)
Dra. Nerea Mandaluniz (ANIMAL PRODUCTION, NEIKER)
Dr. Iker Mijangos (SOIL MICROBIAL ECOLOGY, NEIKER)

16. • Evaluate animal productivity (in terms of weight, body condition and milk
production), nutritional and technological quality of milk, the selection and quality
of livestock diet, as well as emissions of GHG produced by animal and soil activity,
depending on the biodiversity of mountain grasslands.
• Identify nutritional and sensorial characteristics of mountain cheeses for differing,
promoting and better positioning in the market in comparision to other types of
cheese, and develop analytical tools that help investigate the traceability and
authentication of these mountain products.
• Investigate the effect of complete cessation of grazing on (i) aboveground
(vegetation) and belowground (soil meso- and microbiota) biodiversity, (ii) the
emission/sequestration of soil carbon, and (iii) their interactions with environmental
variables.
• Analyze the effect of the progressive decrease of animal stocking rate and/or
changes in the proportion of different species of grazing animals on shrub
encroachment and spatial heterogeneity (landscape diversity).
• Assess the sustainability of current mountain grazing system in an integrated way,
using simulation models of different socio-economic scenarios and livestock
management.
AIMS:

17. Regional Institute for Agro-Food Research and Development (SERIDA)
P. O. Box 13 - 33300 Villaviciosa (Asturias) Spain
Tel: +34 985 890 066 Fax: +34 985 891 854
43.47981N 5.43963W 16 masl
Forage Production and Conservation Program
Person in charge: Adela Martínez-Fernández admartinez@serida.org
Objective:
Optimizing forage production focused towards more sustainable management of agricultural and livestock systems.
Activities:
• Environmental implications of lands as pastures and fodder crops
• Organic grass production
• Control of effluents of silage
• Reuse/recycling of livestock wastes
Dairy Production Program
Person in charge: Fernando Vicente fvicente@serida.org
Objective:
Optimizing milk production through sustainable and competitive management systems, protecting the environment,
promoting animal health and ensuring healthy milk supply, improving final product quality.
Activities:
• Milk produced from grazing
• Reuse/recycling of livestock wastes
• Implications of the use of forages in the management and effects on the environment
• Using additives for reducing ruminal ammonia production
SERIDA. Animal Nutrition, Grasslands and Forages Section

18. BC3: grassland-based livestock systems GHG modelling.
Name of the institution: Basque Centre For Climate Change (BC3)
BC3-Team: Agustin del Prado (coordinator), Guillermo Pardo, Patricia Gallejones
Contact: agustin.delprado@bc3research.org
Main models developed/used
1. SIMSDAIRY (dairy farm level: e.g. del Prado et al., 2010, 2011), NUTGRANJA (del Prado etal., 2000) (developed + use)
2. LANDDAIRY+NGAUGE (LCA for milk: e.g. del Prado et al., in press in STOTEN) (developed + use)
3. NGAUGE (Brown et al., 2005), NCYCLE (Scholefield, 1991; del Prado et al., 2006) (field scale) (developed + use)
4. DNDC (e.g. Li et al., 1991) (Gallejones et al., in prep)(use)
5. RothC (e.g. Coleman and Jenkinson, 1999) (field scale C flows) (use)
Main research topics
1. Development and use of mathematical models for grassland-based livestock systems to simulate the effect of farm
management, genetics and site conditions on the N, C flows, transformations and losses of N and C (GHG, NH3,
NO3- leaching, ecosystem services, economics).
2. Different scales and purposes: field, farm, LCA.
3. Emphasis on simulation of mitigation methods with system-based approaches at the farm scale.

19. BC3: grassland-based livestock systems GHG modelling.
Recent publications on the topic
1. Del Prado A, Mas K, Pardo G and Gallejones. P. in press. Modelling the interactions between C and N farm balances and GHG emissions
from confinement dairy farms in northern Spain. Science of The Total Environment.
2. Del Prado A., Crosson P., Olesen J.E. and Rotz A. 2013. Whole-farm models to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and their potential use
for linking climate change mitigation and adaptation in temperate grassland ruminant-based farming systems. Animal. 7: s2, 373-385.
3. Petersen S.O Blanchard M, Chadwick D, del Prado A, Edouard N, Mosquera-Losada J and Sommer S.G. 2013. Manure management for
GHG mitigation. Animal. 7: s2,
4. Misselbrook T., Del Prado A., Chadwick D. 2013. Opportunities for reducing environmental emissions from forage-based dairy farms.
Agriculture and Food Science. 22: 93–107.)
5. Cardenas L.M., Cuttle S.P., Crabtree B., Hopkins A., Shepherd A. Scholefield D. and del Prado A. 2011. Cost effectiveness of nitrate
leaching mitigation measures for grassland livestock systems at locations in England and Wales. Science of the Total Environment. 409 (3-
4): 1104-1115.
6. Del Prado A., Misselbrook T, Chadwick D, Hopkins A, Dewhurst R.J., Davison P., Butler A., Schröder J., and Scholefield D. 2011. SIMSDAIRY:
A modelling framework to identify sustainable dairy farms in the UK. Framework description and test for organic systems and N fertiliser
optimisation. Science of the Total Environment. 409: 3993-4009.
7. Del Prado A., Chadwick D., Cardenas L., Misselbrook T., Scholefield D. and Merino P. 2010. Exploring systems responses to mitigation of
GHG in UK dairy farms. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 136 (3-4): 318-332.
8. Del Prado A. Merino P., Pinto M and del Hierro O. (in preparation) Nitrous oxide emissions from grazed grassland and maize of an
intensively managed commercial dairy farm in northern Spain.
9. Del Prado, A., A. Shepherd, L. Wu, C. Topp, D. Moran, B. Tolkamp, Gallejones P. and D. Chadwick D. (in preparation) Modelling the
effect of climate change on environmental pollution losses from UK dairy systems with and without grazing adaptation measures.
10. Del Prado A. Corré WJ, Oenema O., Pinto M and del Hierro O. (in preparation) NUTGRANJA 2.0: a simple mass balance model to explore
the effects of different management strategies on GHG emissions, N losses and soil P changes in dairy farms.

20. SEVILLE UNIVERSITY
PABLO DE OLAVIDE UNIVERSITY (SEVILLE)
IFAPA (GRANADA)
Name of the institutions: Seville University ( coordinator), Pablo de Olavide University and IFAPA-Granada.
Team: Yolanda Mena Guerrero (coordinator), Rosario Gutiérrez Peña, and Marta Soler Montiel (Seville
University), David Pérez Neira (Pablo de Olavide University) and Francisco de Asís Ruiz Morales (IFAPA-Granada).
Contact: yomena@us.es
Main methodologies and tools developed/used
1. Since 2000 we have been collaborating with researchers from the FAO-CIHEAM Sheep and Goat Network, and the
FAO-CIHEAM Production Systems Sub-Network, with the goal of combining methodologies to generate information
and a means of support in a coordinated manner for the entire Mediterranean Basin.
2. We have developed a specific methodology to collect information monthly, by designing the computer program
GESCAPRI v.2, from interviews to monthly monitoring.
3. We have developed specific methodologies for energy analysis in Andalusian agriculture and livestock.
4. At this moment, we are developing with other institutions (NEIKER, INTIA and Salamanca University) a specific
methodology to analyze the sustainability of small dairy ruminants and the quality of their products (research
project INIA- RTA2010-00064-C04-02 ).
5. We have involved groups of Andalusia livestock farmers and breed associations in the periodic monitoring of their
operations .
Main research topics
1. Sustainability analysis of goat systems: economical, social and environmental indicators.
2. Evolution and efficacy of use of indicators for improving ruminant pastoral farms.
3. Quantification of the environmental impact of ruminant farms in organic and conventional systems: carbon footprint
and energy analysis, among others.
4. Different scales and purposes: field, farm, LCA.

21. Recent publications on the topic
Batalla M.I., Pinto M., Intxaurrandieta J.M., Mangado J.M., Eguinoa P., Marijuan S., Gutiérrez R., Mena Y., Hidalgo C., Palacios C., Pérez, D, del
Hierro, O. 2013. Análisis de sostenibilidad de los diferentes sistemas de ganaderías con pequeños rumiantes de aptitud lechera. empleo de
indicadores económicos, sociales y ambientales. In Procedings of II Workshop sobre mitigación de emisión de gases efecto invernadero
provenientes del sector agroforestal, Zaragoza (Spain).
Del Hierro O., Pinto M., Intxaurrandieta J.M., Mangado J.M., Eguinoa P., Marijuan S., Gutierrez R., Mena Y., Hidalgo C., Palacios C., Pérez D.,
Batalla. M.I. 2013. La huella de carbono como indicador ambiental en la evaluación de la sostenibilidad de explotaciones de pequeños
rumiantes de aptitud lechera. In Procedings of II Workshop sobre mitigación de emisión de gases efecto invernadero provenientes del sector
agroforestal, Zaragoza (Spain).
Nahed J., Castel J.M., Mena Y., Caravaca F., 2006. Appraisal of the sustainability of dairy goat systems in Southern Spain according to their
degree of intensification. In: Livestock Production Science, 101, p. 10-23.
Ruiz F.A., Mena Y., Castel J.M., Guinamard C., Bossis N., Caramelle-Holtz E., Contu M., Sitzia M., Fois N. 2009. Dairy goat grazing systems in
Mediterranean regions
Pérez Neira, D., Soler Montiel, M., Simón Fernández, X. 2013. Energy Analysis of organic farming in Andalusia. Agroecology and Sustainable
Food System, 37(2): 231-256.
SEVILLE UNIVERSITY AND PABLO DE OLAVIDE UNIVERSITY