A county-level species composition dataset of grassland vegetation along the routes of the China Railway Express (Xinjiang section, 1991-2024)

Preliminary analyses show that the three most species-rich families are Asteraceae (375 species), Poaceae (255 species), and Fabaceae (197 species). Among the geographical divisions along the CRE routes, the Ili River Valley, the Ebinur lowlands, and the northern piedmont plains of the Tianshan Mountains harbor relatively high species richness (1,594, 1,586, and 1,505 species, respectively), while the Turpan-Hami Basin supports comparatively lower richness (1,028 species).

The numbers of species restricted to each of these four divisions are 371, 89, 140, and 88, respectively, while 705 species are shared across all the four divisions. This dataset provides baseline information on grassland vegetation along the CRE corridor, offering high-quality reference data for regional biodiversity conservation zonation, ecological impact assessment of transport corridors, and strategic management over the balance of ecology and trade along “the Belt and Road” logistics corridors.