A long-term high-resolution dataset of grasslands grazing intensity in China

Utilized the census livestock data and a satellite-based vegetation index, we developed the first Long-term High-resolution Grazing Intensity (LHGI) dataset of grassland in seven pastoral provinces in western China from 1980–2022. The file format of the dataset is GeoTIFF with the spatial reference of WGS84 (EPSG: 4326). Each GeoTIFF file represents annual grazing intensity (unit: SU ha^-1).The LHGI dataset effectively captured spatial variations in grazing intensity, with validation at 72 sites showing a correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.78, and the county-level validation showing averaged R² values of 0.73±0.03 from 1980 to 2022. Furthermore, we disaggregated the LHGI into different livestock species based on the percentage of cattle, goats, sheep, and large livestock at the county level in head/ha.This dataset serves as a vital resource for estimating grassland carbon cycling and livestock system CH₄ emissions as well as contributes to grassland management.