WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
A new dataset reconstructs 1-km warm- and cold-season distributions of cattle and sheep/goats across China from 2000–2021 using a stacking ensemble. Internal test performance was high and external city-level validation was lower but still useful, providing a spatially explicit alternative to annual aggregate livestock counts.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Seasonal maps can make grazing exposure more ecologically interpretable than administrative totals, especially where animals move between summer and winter ranges.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
These are modeled distributions, not direct animal counts in every grid cell. External validation is weaker than internal performance, and livestock density alone does not establish ecological impact without vegetation, climate and management context.
SOURCE
Scientific Data
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