Life Cycle Assessment for a Sustainable Livestock Production
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal System and Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2026 | Viewed by 90
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Livestock production systems are essential components of the global food nexus, providing high-quality protein, supporting rural livelihoods, and contributing to land management. At the same time, these systems face increasing challenges regarding their environmental impacts, specifically greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, nutrient losses, land use, and water resource depletion. In this context, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has emerged as a widely applied framework for evaluating the environmental performance of livestock production across the entire supply chain.
The contributions in this Special Issue will explore the application of LCA to a range of livestock systems, species, and geographical contexts. The studies will address key environmental aspects such as GHG emissions, nutrient cycling and efficiency, feed production, and the effects of different management practices on environmental performance. Innovative approaches, including circular resource use and low-input strategies, as well as the role of system design and technological innovations in reducing environmental impacts while maintaining productivity, are also expected to be considered. These contributions are expected to highlight the importance of adopting a life cycle perspective to identify environmental hotspots and inform the development of mitigation strategies.
This Special Issue aims to bring together scientists from around the world to share innovative advances in LCA research and practical experiences, thereby supporting the development of sustainable livestock production systems.
Dr. Ridha Ibidhi
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 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
- life cycle assessment (LCA)
- livestock production
- environmental impacts
- greenhouse gas emissions
- nutrient cycling and efficiency
- sustainability
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