Chinese researchers have created a dataset that contains long-term data on how intense grassland grazing has been in seven provinces in China since 1980. Grassland grazing, the farming practice of feeding livestock on open grassland areas, is significant in China, which has the second-largest grassland resources in the world. The researchers analyzed official livestock census data from 1980 to 2022 and used satellite data on vegetation growth in these provinces to capture the variation in grazing intensity. The dataset can help researchers better understand the long-term ecological implications of grazing, including effects on carbon cycling and emissions.
Image credit: Edward Ji
