If the world became vegetarian, what changes in the ecology

[sum]

If all countries changed to a vegetarian diet, what changes would occur in the ecology of the fields where cattle and other livestock etc were kept? Would it result in a significant loss of many insects and wild plants and interfere with a food chain? Would fields solely of grain destroy the ecology and variety of life that livestock bring?

I feel that there would be a profound deleterious outcome if we were all vegetarian. Are my concerns misplaced?

sum

[pr126]

This is an interesting question.

Humans by evolution are omnivores.

I don't think the theory is testable, so we will not know the answer how this would affect the planetary ecology. (If at all).

All lifeforms depend on consuming other lifeforms for survival, whether it is a fish, a cow, a lettuce or tomato.

The question is two fold. Moral and practical.

Until science could step in and develop a genetically produced meat-like substances, that would be identical (and acceptable) to humans for consumption instead of meat, fish, or even vegetables.

I don't think this will be happening anytime soon. Our priorities lie elsewhere.

One more thing. Knowing human nature, this would need a totalitarian enforcement on a planetary scale. IMO not feasible.

[sum]

Hello pr126

I have wondered about this for a long time. Just one country changing to a vegetarian state would impact on world ecology because of birds, butterflies etc passing through in search of food and breeding grounds and not being able to find these. I wonder what Paul McCartney would have to say.

Many years ago I remember reading that there was a large tome devoted solely to the ecology of cow "pats" - might have been some other large herbivore. Remove these cow "pats" and a whole range of insects etc will disappear and a hole in the food chain will appear. Mono-culture of grain will severely limit the range and variety of insects and wildlife.

I appreciate that it is a theoretical matter at present but people need to be aware of possible problems that might arise in the future.

sum

[Sten]

There would still be livestock if we were vegetarian, the milk has to come from somewhere. However the amount of grain that we feed meat cattle could feed the entire third world.

[La Voix]

Really for a life style change across populations Big Mac should drive the vegan revolution! Mankind is more used to solve its global problems by collective neglect, which means that the most vulnerable are not the perpetrators themselves but helpless onlookers.
I think there would be significant eco rejuvenation by turning vegans. A vegan population on a national or global scale does not mean zero culling, it means discontinuing life style based on beef and similar industry. We can say 90% vegan populace or 90% food constituent being vegan. I found some interesting researches here. Sorry for too many links.

CONCLUSIONS
Nutrition ecology has the goal of attaining sustainability of
food and nutrition security worldwide. To achieve this goal, professionals
involved in the nutrition system must inform the public
about the principles of nutrition ecology. In this manner, people
can be motivated to practice sustainable eating behavior (36).
Nutrition ecology is also a question of personal priorities. Interested
and well-informed consumers will be able to weigh the arguments
and make the necessary decisions. The vision of a sustainable
future depends upon individuals who feel responsible for the environment
and health. One of the most effective ways to achieve the
goals of nutrition ecology, including healthy and sustainable food
choices, is a vegetarian lifestyle (37).
The author had no conflicts of interest. See link: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/3/657S.full.pdf+html

One third of world's land surface is being turned into desert because of meat production, and more than half of world's oceans are nearing the point of ecological collapse because of overfishing.
Meat consumption is linked to huge problems concerning the enviroment that the world currently faces, like the global warming, desertification, loss of reinforests and the problem of acid rains.
More than 90% of British lakes, ponds and swamps has been dried out- only to make space for agricultural land used to feed more animals. The story is more or less the same in all other parts of the world.
In the USA alone, in the last 200 years one third of the primary surface layer has been ruined for rearing animals. In an attempt to cover this shortage, more than 100 million hectares of forest land has been turned to agricultural areas, and deforestation is still going on at a rate of 0,4 hectares per second.
.................
20 vegetarians could be fed using the same land surface needed to feed one "carnivore"!
Washington, Oregon and California alone are using 17 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to rear animals, which is enough to give electric power to all households in the entire country for one month and a half. see link: http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/index.en.php?id=442

A 2010 report from United Nations Environment Program's (UNEP) International Panel of Sustainable Resource Management, states that global shift towards a vegan diet is critical for mitigating global issues of hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change. The panel declared: "Impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth and increasing consumption of animal products. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products."[19][20]
......Bill Mollison has inconsistently argued in his Permaculture Design Course that vegetarianism exacerbates soil erosion. This is because removing a plant from a field removes all the nutrients it obtained from the soil, while removing an animal leaves the field intact. On US farmland, much less soil erosion is associated with pastureland used for livestock grazing than with land used for production of crops.[23] Robert Hart has also developed forest gardening, which has since been adopted as a common permaculture design element, as a sustainable plant-based food production system.[24] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_vegetarianism

Vegetarianism can't solve all of our environmental problems, but it can significantly reduce our impact on the Earth. http://www.dfwnetmall.com/veg/ecology.htm

It is unnecessary to promote meat consumption as an ecologically
moral behavior, but it would probably be beneficial if everyone
were to acknowledge the ecological appropriateness of
omnivorousness. Those who are vegetarians may thus need to
learn to live with yet another layer of moral ambiguity; it is quite
improbable that humans will ever create on any significant scale
sustainable food systems that do not use animals and their products
for either wool, fertilizer, draft power and transportation,
biogas, or milk and eggs, or even for meat. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/59/5/1110S.full.pdf

Top 10 Reasons Why It's Green to Go Veggie http://www.downtoearth.org/environment/top-10-reasons

Ecological Footprint of a Vegan Diet Vs. Carnivorous Diet

http://www.livestrong.com/article/51364 ... z2AlPoTDQA http://www.livestrong.com/article/513641-ecological-footprint-of-a-vegan-diet-vs-carnivorous-diet/

Regards