Study on caloril values of plants in alpine meadow with different degradation degrees

The caloric values of 27 species from 10 families in alpine meadow with different degraded degrees of Guoluo prefecture ware measured and the change law of caloric value among four degradation levels was analyzed. The results show that: 1) the average caloric value of aboveground parts for alpine meadow common plants varied from 13.99 kJg-1 to 19.45 kJg-1 and the average caloric value of all species was 17.99 kJg-1, which is higher than global scale terrestrial plants. 2) The caloric value changing trends were different due to characteristics of plants' own biological proprieties. With the increased degradation degree, the caloric values of Gramineae, Compositae and Gentianaceae were increased firstly and reached highest point in moderately degraded meadow, then decreased, and that of Cyperaceae showed gradually increasing trend. 3) Caloric value was increased firstly and then decreased with the increased of degradation degree at the level of community, which reached highest point 18.16 kJg-1 in lightly degraded meadow, and lowest 16.29 kJg-1 in heavy degraded degree. Changes in species composition lead to the variance of community caloric value among different degradation degrees.