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.
Enjoy thinking about it
Cheers
Mike
--
Dr Mike Tarburton
Biology
Pacific Adventist University
PMB Boroko
Papua New Guinea
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