Rumen Metabolism and Its Influence on Livestock Emissions
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Farm Animal Production".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 177
Special Issue Editors
Interests: animal nutrition and feeding; rumen fermentation; methane reduction; feed efficiency; environmental impact of animal production
Interests: animal nutrition; ruminal fermentation; in vitro techniques; methane kinetics; strategy for methane reduction; alternative feeds
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Rumen metabolism is critical to animal productivity and health and strongly influences the environmental footprint of livestock systems. Diet composition, feed processing, and targeted additives can alter microbial pathways, modulate hydrogen fluxes, improve nutrient-use efficiency, and reduce environmental emissions.
Alongside consolidated strategies to control rumen function as diet manipulation, modern strategies such as additives find space. At the same time, advances in microbiome, metabolome, and flux-oriented profiling are enabling more robust mechanistic cause–effect interpretations that extend beyond purely descriptive outcomes.
This Special Issue will consolidate knowledge on how feeds and additives influence rumen metabolism and emission-related outcomes. Contributions may address fiber and protein degradation, key fermentation parameters, hydrogen-related pathways, and major end-products such as CH₄ and NH₃, paying particular attention to their implications for animal performance, product quality, and environmental impact across ruminant species.
Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Dietary strategies or additives aimed to redirect hydrogen metabolism and reduce methane emissions;
- Rumen protein degradability and ammonia dynamics;
- Strategies for targeted manipulation of the rumen microbiota and its metabolic functions;
- Methodological studies that improve, validate, or standardize fermentation measurements and protocols;
- Critical reviews or meta-analyses synthesizing evidence on the topic.
Dr. Marco Battelli
Guest Editor
Dr. Matteo Braidot
Guest Editor Assistant
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- fermentation kinetics
- methane
- hydrogen
- volatile fatty acids
- ammonia
- feed efficiency
- rumen microbiota
- product quality
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