Biomass and species richness of legumes of semiarid grassland of Inner Mongolia, China

For ecological sustainability, legumes play a significant role in grassland ecosystem. From 2006 to 2008, samples were collected and data were generated on species richness and above ground dry matter of legumes at 20 field sites of Inner Mongolia, China and the relationship between legumes species richness with legume above ground dry matter was analyzed. The study was carried out in grassland characterized by a semiarid climate. At least two legume species occurred in 68.8% of the sites studied. It was dominated by perebnial legumes genera such as Astragalus, Medicago and Caragana. Average annual above ground dry matter was 5.97 g m(-2) which accounted for 5.02% of total community. Our study found that above ground dry matter and species richness of legumes was low due to low precipitation and high temperature during the growing season in the grassland of Inner Mongolia