The Role of Sheep and Goats in Sustainable Agroecosystems: Impacts on Soil Health, Biodiversity, and Climate Resilience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v14i6.1692-1700.8723Keywords:
Sheep, goats, Sustainable Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Climate adaptation strategies, agricultural irrigation managementAbstract
Sheep and goats play a pivotal yet often underappreciated role in sustainable agroecosystems, particularly within environmentally fragile and climate vulnerable regions. Beyond their contribution to food production, small ruminants act as dynamic ecological agents that directly influence soil processes, vegetation dynamics, biodiversity patterns, and climate resilience. This review synthesizes current evidence on how sheep and goat production systems interact with key environmental compartments soil, biosphere, and atmosphere within a total environment framework. We examine the impacts of grazing intensity, breed adaptability, and management strategies on soil health indicators, including organic matter dynamics, nutrient cycling, soil structure, and erosion control. Furthermore, the role of small ruminants in shaping plant community composition, maintaining biodiversity, and supporting ecosystem services such as habitat heterogeneity and fire risk reduction is critically evaluated. From a climate perspective, the review integrates findings on greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration potential, and the adaptive capacity of sheep and goats under increasing climatic stress. By linking animal based processes with broader environmental feedbacks, this review highlights sheep and goats as both drivers and responders within sustainable agroecosystems. We propose an integrative conceptual framework positioning small ruminants as key components of climate resilient agricultural landscapes and identify knowledge gaps and research priorities necessary for aligning small ruminant production with long term environmental sustainability goals.
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