Mapping grassland and pastoral land use with livestock-density and grazing-presence proxies across Europe

See, Linda (author), Malek, Žiga (author), Romanchuk, Zoriana (author), Yashchun, Orysia (author), Lesiv, Myroslava (author)

Grasslands and other grazed habitats play an important role in European agricultural systems, yet they are being degraded through under- and overgrazing, abandonment, and conversion to other land uses. Supporting more sustainable grassland and pastoral land use requires spatially explicit information on grazing presence, livestock density and related land-cover types, but harmonized data remain limited at high spatial and temporal resolution. In this paper, we present high-resolution maps of grassland and pastoral land-use proxy classes for the EU27+ countries for 2000, 2010 and 2018. The maps combine Corine Land Cover (CLC) with livestock-density data and modelled estimates of grazing, indoor or non-grazing livestock, and grazing in semi-natural areas. These inputs are used as the best currently available pan-European proxies for distinguishing broad livestock-density gradients and likely grazing presence across grassland and related pastoral land-cover classes. The maps were evaluated through a qualitative consultation with European grassland experts, who provided feedback on the broad spatial patterns represented in their countries. We also compared the 2018 map with mowing-event data for Austria, Germany and the EU, including data from the Copernicus high resolution layer on Vegetated land cover characteristics, to assess whether mowing events were more prevalent in livestock-associated grassland classes outside mapped grazing areas than in likely grazed pasture classes. Overall, experts considered the broad spatial patterns plausible while acknowledging limitations related to CLC, land use/- cover area frame survey (LUCAS) data and the lack of harmonized observed management data. Comparisons with independent mowing-event datasets showed the expected patterns of a lower proportion of mowing-event frequency in likely grazed pasture classes and higher mowing-event frequency in livestock-associated grassland classes outside mapped grazing areas. The dataset is intended for pan-European modelling, screening and policy-scenario applications, rather than as a parcel-level map of observed grassland management practices.

• Language: English
• Keywords: grassland, pasture, livestock density, land cover, grazing, mowing, Europe
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 16 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 3, iss. 3, art. no. 034501
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-185708
• UDC: 502/504
• ISSN on article: 2976-601X
• DOI: 10.1088/2976-601X/ae8e7e
• COBISS.SI-ID: 288071939
• Publication date in RUL: 18.08.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Environmental research : Food systems.
• Shortened title: Environ. res. food syst.
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• ISSN: 2976-601X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 233858563

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: travniki, paša, gostota govedi, Evropa

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Project number: 101060423
• Name: LAnd use and MAnagement modelling for SUStainable governance
• Acronym: LAMASUS

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: J4-50224
• Name: Načrtovanje in upravljanje krajin za ublažitev podnebnih sprememb in prilagajanje nanje