Community characteristics and plant species diversity of meadow grassland in the northeast of Qinghai Lake

A field survey was conducted to investigate the community characteristics and plant species diversity of meadow grassland in the northeast of Qinghai Lake during 2008. This study showed that 29 plant species were identified in the plot, which belongs to 9 families and 21 genera, indicating that species composition of meadow grassland was simple. The dominant specie was Stipa krylovii and the subdominant species were Kobresia humilis and Poa crymophila. The genus of the north temperate was absolutely dominant, and the life form of plant in the meadow grassland was mainly perennial plant. The vertical structure of the meadow grassland community was unapparent. The richness index (R), ShannonWiener index (H), Simpson index (D) and evenness index (E1, E2) showed a similar changeable trend without great differences.