Mike Tarburton wrote:
>
> Greetings
>
> One subscriber commented:
> "However, we would then clear the land for all the extra crops that
> would be
> required, and much of this would then be irrigated."
>
> Not true! - at least only partly true.
>
> Recall that 90% of energy in the ecosystem is lost as it passes up
> each trophic level. That is why it is energetically wasteful to grow
> corn to feed to cattle and then eat the cattle. If you eat the corn
> you will only need 10% of the land to grow it compared to what would
> be needed to grow the cattle.
>
> So Lorne has a point.
>
> Even though we often see more (# & spp) birds (& hopefully mammals,
> reptiles, amphibians, insects, and plants in pastoral properties, we
> could set up more reserves if everyone became vegetarian. The amount
> of land in reserves would even be greater if dogs and cats & other
> imported pests were fed vegetarian diets as well.
>
> Recall that much of the increase in the size of the Sahara Desert is
> the direct result of the Masai farming the cattle that they live from.
> Vegetarians and carnivores both need land, but vegetarianism would
> delay the time when we have to say goodbye to many species.
When were the Masai in the vicinity of the Sahara - their stomping
ground is Kenya and Tanzania? - Your assertion is like comparing
Cooranbong with Port Moresby.
Anyhow, while I agree it is inefficient to feed grain to meat animals,
it would be ecologically preferable to harvest kangaroos from our
rangelands than to try to grow crops out there.
Ultimately, I thing it is best to adapt a local supply than establish
exotics - that way your food stuffs are ecologically adapted ...
Regards, Laurie.
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
