<b>DATA FOR--</b><b>Grazing intensity and duration modulate the biotic refuge effect on community</b><b> </b><b>reproductive output</b>

1. Unpalatable plants can provide biotic refuges for their neighbors, thus playing important roles in community diversity protection, especially in community restoration. However, the synergistic response of unpalatable species populations and their biotic refuge effects to grazing intensity and duration remains poorly understood. 2. Here, we observed a four grazing intensity experiments for three consecutive years to examined the dynamic responses of Morina kokonorica population, a thorny, unpalatable species, and its biotic refuge effects to grazing intensity and duration. 3. We revealed that low to moderate grazing pressures increased the frequency of adult M. kokonorica plants, while under high grazing pressures, the population experienced decline. M. kokonorica provided biotic refuges for the community structure and reproductive traits, primarily by alleviating the negative impacts of grazing on the reproductive branches of dominant Poaceae species. Communities with M. kokonorica exhibited 1.4 times, 5.6 times, and 4.9 times higher numbers of harvested species, reproductive branches, and seeds, respectively, compared to those without M. kokonorica in 2020. Notably, these refuge effects were more pronounced under heavy grazing. However, as grazing duration extended, the defense area and population of M. kokonorica diminished, ultimately leading to a collapse of the protective effect. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our results underscored the importance of grazing duration alongside intensity in shaping biotic refuges effect, which will promote a reconsideration of the ecological role of unpalatable species in grazing management, especially in grassland restoration. Unpalatable plants serve as indicators of unhealthy grazing and acted as a self-sustaining mechanism for grassland ecosystems. Management based on the eradication of unpalatable herbs may not only fail to restore degraded grasslands, but may also exacerbate degradation due to the removal of refuges.