Increasing global population and rising consumption are placing unprecedent demands on agriculture and natural resources. In South America, the livestock industry is heavily impacting the environment, but also delivers important socioeconomic benefits to rural populations. Recently, there has been strong debate on how to define land suitability for cattle grazing and priority areas for intensified production, limited production, or conservation. We present a conceptual framework that evaluates land use performance in terms of productivity and environmental impacts, and apply this framework using a spatially explicit approach and multi-criteria analysis for cattle grazing systems in Colombia. Our study provides a national perspective of the current land use situation for the cattle sector, and defines areas where cattle grazing should be promoted, restricted, or excluded. Results indicate that up to 42% of the total area under cattle grazing land use show important biophysical constraints that limit their suitability. Furthermore, our productivity analysis indicates that 60% of national rangeland has low stocking rates (<0.5 AU ha), and only 13% of rangeland has high stocking rates (>1 AU ha). Current grazing areas that should be excluded, according to biophysical limitations and low productivity, are mostly concentrated in the Andean, Caribbean and Pacific regions, while grazing areas identified for restricted production are mainly located in the Andean and Caribbean Regions. This study provides the first spatially explicit, multi-criteria analysis of land suitability for cattle grazing systems at national level, which can be used to inform improved land planning and management at regional and municipal levels.

中文翻译：

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哥伦比亚通往更可持续养牛业的道路：空间多标准分析


全球人口的增长和消费的增加对农业和自然资源提出了前所未有的需求。在南美洲，畜牧业对环境产生了严重影响，但也为农村人口带来了重要的社会经济效益。最近，关于如何界定放牧土地的适宜性以及集约化生产、限制生产或保护的优先区域，存在着激烈的争论。我们提出了一个概念框架，从生产力和环境影响方面评估土地利用绩效，并利用空间明确的方法和多标准分析来应用该框架，以分析哥伦比亚的牛放牧系统。我们的研究提供了目前养牛业土地利用状况的全国视角，并确定了应促进、限制或排除养牛的地区。结果表明，高达 42% 的牛放牧土地利用显示出重要的生物物理限制，限制了其适宜性。此外，我们的生产力分析表明，60% 的国家牧场载畜率较低（<0.5 个AU 公顷），只有 13% 的牧场载畜率较高（>1 个AU 公顷）。目前因生物物理限制和生产力低下而应排除的放牧区主要集中在安第斯、加勒比和太平洋地区，而确定限制生产的放牧区主要位于安第斯和加勒比地区。这项研究首次对国家层面牛放牧系统的土地适宜性进行了空间明确的多标准分析，可用于为改善区域和市层面的土地规划和管理提供信息。