The Effects of Different Stocking Rates on Grassland Functional Group Characteristics and Diversities in Desert Steppe Area

The experiment was conducted in Stipa.breviflora desert steppe in Inner Mongolia located in 41°47′17″N,111°53′46″E,altitude 1450min 2004.The objectives were to study the integrated influences of different stocking rates on grassland functional group characteristics and speciesdiversity with the random block design.The resultsshow that plant functional group structures had no change under different stocking rates,but the species composition changed.The shrubs and perennial grasses had no change,the species composition of perennial forbs decreased as the stocking rates increase, and made the community structure and composition simplification.The richness index and diversity index were the lowest in heavy grazed plot,the change of evenness index is different,because moderate grazing can improve the plant diversity of community mainly due to change the evenness of community.