John Todd, of Living Machines fame and the New Alchemy Institute, has an interesting essay on http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/634 about the need for our urban and industrial society to understand the foundational role of soil, and the carbon cycle.

We are indebted to Darren Doherty's website regenag.com for the following information and video:

This is perhaps one of the oldest known films on the Keyline concept filmed on PA Yeomans' former farm 'Nevallan' circa 1955. Its somewhat remarkable from a few perspectives:
* It was produced by a Bank
* It was made at a time when fertiliser technology in agriculture was promising subsidised fertility out of a bag as opposed to conscious design and management of the natural elements
* It is 55 years on and we still have landscapes that rapidly shed water, soils that are eroding, rural communities shrinking, cities not feeding and watering themselves etc. etc. etc.

Keyline Farming 1955 from RegenAG on Vimeo.

In 1984 Sam Bingham wrote a short book for Navajo country called Living from Livestock. Though one or two items are outdated (such as the recommendation to build radial grazing cells) it is a wonderfully illustrated and trenchant introduction to the relationship of grazing to ecosystem function in an arid environment. Thanks to Sam we are able to offer it as downloadable pdfs. (Right click, Save As, to download.)

http://managingwholes.com/village/livingfromlivestock/livingfromlivestoc... (about 8 MB)

or in sections:

http://managingwholes.com/village/livingfromlivestock/livingfromlivestoc...
http://managingwholes.com/village/livingfromlivestock/livingfromlivestoc...
http://managingwholes.com/village/livingfromlivestock/livingfromlivestoc...
http://managingwholes.com/village/livingfromlivestock/livingfromlivestoc...
http://managingwholes.com/village/livingfromlivestock/livingfromlivestoc...
http://managingwholes.com/village/livingfromlivestock/livingfromlivestoc...
http://managingwholes.com/village/livingfromlivestock/livingfromlivestoc...

and in French:

http://managingwholes.com/village/livingfromlivestock/vivredesontroupeau... (about 7 MB)

Allan Savory gave this talk in Ireland in November 2009. About 58 minutes.

Allan Savory - Keeping Cattle: cause or cure for climate crisis? from Feasta on Vimeo.

Cindy Dvergsten has a great piece on using sheep to maintain lawns.

Methane is an important greenhouse gas that contributes to global heating. But methane emissions from ruminant digestion play a minor part in atmospheric methane levels, according to a recent article published on the website of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Animal Production and Health branch.

Atmospheric methane has stabilized at 1999 levels, though livestock numbers have been increasing by an average of about 17 million per year, according to UN FAO data. "At this time there is no relationship between increasing ruminant numbers and changes in atmospheric methane concentrations, a break from previously assumed role of ruminants in greenhouse gases."

http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/aph/stories/2008-atmospheric-methane.html

Methane is an important subcycle of the carbon cycle. Methane (CH₄), like carbon dioxide (CO₂), is a transparent, odorless gas. Per gram, methane has about 21 times the greenhouse potential of carbon dioxide, but unlike carbon dioxide it breaks down fairly quickly in the atmosphere.

Methane is produced during anaerobic fermentation of plant material. In the carbon cycle, lignin and cellulose are typically broken down by methanogenic bacteria, such as are present in the digestive systems of ruminant herbivores and termites, and which cannot survive in the presence of oxygen.

Lecture to the Royal Society in October 2007 by James Lovelock. "Climate change on a living earth," 65 minutes. Lovelock eloquently depicts the fragmentation of scientific understanding, which makes us unable to grasp global heating or to counter it. "In our hubris, we believe that we can be stewards of the earth long before we understand it."

"Perhaps the saddest thing is that if we fail, Gaia will lose as much or more than we do. Not only will wildlife and whole ecosystems go extinct, but in human civilization the planet has a precious resource. We are not merely a disease; we are through our intelligence and communication the planetary equivalent of a nervous system. We should be the heart and mind of the Earth, not its malady. Perhaps the greatest value of the Gaia concept lies in its metaphor of a living Earth, which reminds us that we are part of it and that our contract with Gaia is not about human rights alone, but includes human obligations."

Draft of lecture here.

Attached are several diagrams of the carbon cycle.

See also http://managingwholes.com/water-cycle-demo-jugs.htm and http://managingwholes.com/eco-water-cycle.htm for more detail.