Relationship between grasshopper community and vegetation in hilly meadow steppe of Horqin

In recent years, high density grasshopper disaster within larger area occurred periodically in hilly meadow steppe of Horqin which bring severe damages and threat to the development of local animal husbandry. The plant community, grasshopper community and the correlation between them in four typical grassland plots (plotⅠ: Stipa baicalensis+Achnatherum sibiricum community; plotⅡ: Cleistogenes chinensis+Lespedeza daurica community; plotⅢ: Artemisia pectinatal community; plotⅣ: C. squarrosa community) were investigated in hilly meadow steppe of Horqin. The results showed that there were significant different (P＜0.05) for the richness index, diversity index and evenness index of plant community in four grassland plots, however, there was no significant difference for these 3 indices of grasshopper community. The correlation between different indices from plant community and grasshopper community performed differently in four grassland plots. Grasshopper community diversity and plant community diversity negatively correlated (P0.05) with each other in plot Ⅱ, however, they positively correlated (P0.05) with each other in plot Ⅰ and Ⅲ, and significantly positively correlated (P0.05) with each other in plot Ⅳ. The occurrence and distribution of grasshopper were affected or determined by the habitat condition consists of plant community and the biological characteristics of grasshopper. Habitat selection diversity of grasshopper reflected strong adaption of grasshopper and synergy between grasshopper and plant.