Land use-based human activity intensity along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China (1970s – 2015)

Data of human activity intensity can be used to assess the effects of human activities on biodiversity. Based on China’s land-use/cover datasets and a land-use-based index measuring human disturbance on ecosystem, we developed the dataset of human activity intensity along the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) for seven time periods, namely, late 1970s, late 1980s, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. The dataset has a resolution of 1 km. An analysis of the spatial correlation between human activity intensity and 1 km population density indicated that the dataset is of good rationality. A validation against the global human footprint dataset indicated that our dataset has a higher precision than the latter. The dataset presented here can help deepen our understanding of the human-nature relationship, and provides statistical references for policymakers with regard to ecological conservation and economic development in YREB.