Climate change impacts and vulnerability in Europe 2016

Climate change impacts on society
sustainable production structures. Such innovative leaps
may require the acceptance of short-term reductions
in profitability in order to secure long-term security of
production and ecosystem services. Innovations may
include the development of legume-based grassland
livestock systems, which can reduce the reliance on
artificial fertiliser inputs, reduce animal susceptibility
to some pathogens and increase productivity (Lüscher
et al., 2014), or the exploration of silvopastoral systems,
which have been shown to increase productivity and
environmental sustainability, increase livestock welfare
and resilience to temperature extremes, reduce pests,
and increase pest predators in tropical zones (Broom
et al., 2013). The aim of these explorations should be to
find ways to use livestock systems positively to improve
and enhance a range of ecosystem services. Achieving
this can have potentially positive 'overflow' effects on
crop productivity at the landscape level, while also
efficiently (and profitably) supplying nutritious food and
safeguarding rural communities.
Climate change, impacts and vulnerability in Europe 2016 | An indicator-based report
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