[Distribution of lichens biomass and its affecting factors during restoration process of Inner Mongolia steppe]

An experiment was installed in the typical steppe area of Central Inner Mongolia to study the distribution characteristics of lichen biomass in the restoration process. The experimental areas were continuously grazed for ten years (1989 to 1998) under different stocking rate, and stopped grazing since 1999. Two years (2001 to 2002) monitoring on the distribution of lichen biomass and its affecting factors showed that no significant difference was found between different stocking rate treatments (P < 0.05). There existed positive correlations between lichen biomass and plant species diversity and between soil water content and soil organic matter content (P < 0.05), and negative correlations between lichen biomass and soil bulk density, and between Gramineae plant functional group and plant community coverage and biomass (P < 0.05).