[Comparison of root traits of and under grazing in typical steppe].

Plant ecological adaptation is associated with root traits. To clarify the differences of root traits between two dominant species, and , under different grazing intensities (light, moderate, and heavy grazing intensities), we measured root traits, including root length, root surface area, root diameter, root volume, root tips, root bifurcations, specific root length, and specific surface area. We analyzed the root morphological patterns of tip proportion, length proportion, surface proportion and volume proportion of both species, and examined their ecological adaptation strategies under grazing.

[Response of plant leaf traits to grazing intensity in Stipa krylovii steppe.].

Grazing disturbance is one of the ways to influence plant traits, and plant leaf traits actually reflect the adaptability of plants to the environment. In this study, taking Stipa krylovii steppe under different grazing intensities in Hulunbuir as research area, the relationships of leaf traits and the variation of plant traits among plant life-form functional groups was investigated. Results showed that plant traits with different life-forms had no significant difference in S.

[Variation of soil physicochemical and microbial properties in degraded steppes in Hulunbeir of China].

To investigate the influence of degradation on grassland, we sampled soil and plants at three sites respectively under light, moderate and severe degradation in Hulunbeir Grassland in northern China and analyzed the differences and relationships among soil physicochemical characters, enzyme activity, soil microorganism quantity and aboveground biomass. The results showed that species richness of the moderately degraded site was highest while the aboveground biomass at the lightly degraded site was significantly higher than at the severely degraded site. Soil moisture content, nutrients (organic matter and total nitrogen) concentrations, soil microorganism quantity and enzyme activity were all decreased significantly in the degraded sites, whereas both the soil hardness and bulk density showed an opposite trend.