A forty-four-year dataset of rapeseed phenology in the Middle and Lower Yangtze River Plain of China

This protocol effectively constrained data uncertainty and corrected non-climatic discontinuities. Univariate linear regression was further employed to quantify the decadal change trends of each phenology periods and growth lengths, supplemented by Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) to characterize their probability distribution features. The final dataset is presented as structured tables (in xlsx format) and high-resolution diagnostic plots (including trend and density plots), with a total volume of approximately 470 MB, systematically organized by province and station.

This dataset systematically addresses the lack of long-term, standardized rapeseed phenology data products for this region. It provides an indispensable, high-quality empirical foundation for in-depth investigations into the nonlinear response mechanisms of overwintering crop phenology to climate warming, improving the parameterization and validation of crop process models, and assessing climate change impacts to formulate regional adaptive management strategies.