Agricultural livestock production ranks among the most environmental impactful industry sectors at the global level, and within the livestock sector, beef production accounts for a large proportion of environmental damage. Beef production in Alpine mountain regions, such as in South Tyrol (Italy), is a small, but increasing agricultural sector. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the environmental impact of different organic and conventional beef production systems in South Tyrol and to compare their environmental impact and effect on biodiversity under Alpine production conditions. Live cycle assessment (LCA) approach was used and 1 kg of live weight (LW) was chosen as functional unit (FU). Global warming potential (GWP, kg CO₂-eq), acidification potential (AP, g SO₂-eq), eutrophication potential (EP, g PO₄-eq), non-renewable energy use (NRE, MJ-eq), land occupation (LO, m² organic land/year) and biodiversity damage potential (BDP) expressed in potential disappeared fraction (PDF) were investigated. The study involved 18 beef cattle farms in the South Tyrolean region: Conventional calf-fattening farms (CCF = 6), organic suckler cow farms (SCF = 6), and conventional heifer/ox fattening farms (HOF = 6). The CCF system showed a higher environmental impact compared to SCF and HOF systems for all impact categories (P < 0.05). Between the organic and the conventional system (SCF and HOF), no significant differences (P > 0.05) were found for most of the considered impact categories (means ± SEM per FU): GWP: 19.8 vs 17.1 ± 4.2 kg CO_2-eq, AP: 11.4 vs 9.3 ± 4.7 g SO₂-eq, EP: 4.1 vs 2.8 ± 1.2, NRE: 21.9 vs 13.8 ± 7 MJ-eq, SCF and HOF respectively. Only for LO (70.8 vs 44.1 ± 17.7 m² organic/y, P < 0.01, SCF and HOF respectively) and the effect on BDP (−1.93 vs −0.85 ± 0.35, PDF, P < 0.01, SCF and HOF respectively) differences between organic and conventional production methods could be revealed. The study showed that beef cattle husbandry in the Alpine area has a satisfactory environmental performance. In particular, the systems studied showed a positive impact in terms of biodiversity.

在全球范围内，农业畜牧业生产是对环境影响最大的行业之一，在畜牧业中，牛肉生产占很大一部分环境损害。高山山区（例如意大利的南蒂罗尔）的牛肉产量虽然很小，但正在不断增加。因此，本研究的目的是检验南蒂罗尔不同有机和常规牛肉生产系统的环境影响，并比较其在高山生产条件下的环境影响和对生物多样性的影响。使用生命周期评估（LCA）方法，并选择1 kg体重（LW）作为功能单位（FU）。全球变暖潜势（GWP，千克CO ₂当量），酸化潜势（AP，g SO _2）-eq），富营养化潜力（EP，g PO ₄ -eq），不可再生能源使用（NRE，MJ-eq），土地占用（LO，m ²有机土地/年）和生物多样性破坏潜力（BDP）研究了潜在的消失分数（PDF）。该研究涉及南蒂罗尔州的18个肉牛场：常规小牛育肥场（CCF = 6），有机奶牛场（SCF = 6）和常规小母牛/牛育肥场（HOF = 6）。与所有影响类别的SCF和HOF系统相比，CCF系统显示出更高的环境影响（P <0.05）。在有机系统和常规系统（SCF和HOF）之间，对于大多数考虑的影响类别（均值±SEM / FU）均未发现显着差异（P> 0.05）：GWP：19.8与CO ₂当量为17.1±4.2 kg ，AP：分别为11.4 vs 9.3±4.7 g SO ₂当量，EP：4.1 vs 2.8±1.2，NRE：21.9 vs 13.8±7 MJeq，SCF和HOF。仅针对LO（70.8 VS 44.1±17.7米²有机/ Y，P <0.01，SCF和HOF分别）和BDP（-1.93效果VS -0.85±0.35，PDF，P <0.01，SCF和HOF分别地）的差异可以揭示有机和常规生产方法之间的区别。研究表明，高山地区的肉牛饲养业具有令人满意的环境表现。特别是，所研究的系统显示出对生物多样性的积极影响。