The alpine meadow ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau offer vital ecosystem services to local and downstream communities. To ensure the pastoral system's multifunctionality and sustainability, we conducted a comprehensive study on grazing intensity, a key factor linking the local social and ecological systems. Using community participatory GIS and movement ecology, this study calculated grazing intensities at pasture and quadrat scales and analyzed the socio-economic barriers to effective grazing management. First, we determined the pasture-scale grazing intensity in winter-spring and summer-autumn for 1994 and 2015 in a specific village, revealing significantly higher intensity in winter-spring than in summer-autumn for both years (P<0.05). Our data showed an increase in household numbers due to population growth, leading to more, smaller pastures in 2015 than in 1994, despite stable livestock numbers per household. This demographic shift resulted in varied grazing intensities. Systematic path dependence poses challenges to local pastoralists’ management. Second, measuring grazing intensity at the quadrat scale (22 m) is crucial for understanding plant diversity. Using GPS and accelerometers, we analyzed yak behavior in a specific pasture, finding yaks prefer grazing on patches with a slope of 20–30 degrees and significantly higher Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (P<0.05). The absence of shepherding due land management change could potentially intensify local grazing due to yak preferences. Our findings emphasize the need to understand socio-ecological drivers influencing grazing intensity for management strategies, rather than blaming overgrazing on pastoralists. We suggest effective grazing intensity values should reflect specific pasture conditions. Rangeland managers should integrate field observations with local landscape characteristics for effective, landscape-specific strategies.