There are 627 species of 389 genera, including evergreen trees such as Castanopsis sclerophylla, Phoebe sheareri, Cyclobalanopsis glauca and so on, in Zinjin Mountain. The phytogeographic components of the mountain have intermediate traits between tempera

Neosinocalamus affinis is a bamboo species distributed most widely and cultivated for a long time. The following problems about it is discussed in this paper.

1) Tile growth of the bamboo species under various stand conditions shows that there is no significant correlation between the density of the clump of the bamboo and the stand conditions, that the density is limited mainly by the thickness of soil, and that the height and the breast-height diameter of the bamboo correlate with the altitude above sea level.

2) It is shown that the diameter and the height of the bamboo and its clump density decrease with the decrease in thickness and humidity of the soil from the valley to the top of the slope when the series of the bamboo in the valley is investigated,

3) Study on the growth and development of the bamboo shoots shows that the increment of the bamboo correlate mainly with yesterday′s humidity and today’s temperature. The growth curve exhibits tow peaks for one day; the first is before 10 a.m., the second is after 3 p.m.. The number of the bamboo shoots which appeared above the ground correlate with the thickness of soil, whereas the number of the bamboo shoots which disappeared above the ground is mainly limited by the height of the mother bamboo and the number of the bamboo shoots which appeared above the ground. The number of healthy bamboo shoots is mainly affected by the thickness of soil and the bamboo height.

Amaranthus has several species of grain crop which could be used both as foodstuff and forage. R104,K112,No.1(three varieties of A.crucntus),No.2 (A.hypochondriaus) and No. 3 (A.hydrides),introduced from Rod1 Agricultural Centre in the state of Pennsylvania,U S A,have been planted in the Xilinguole steppe region of Inner Mongolia during 1985—1988. The result shows that R104 produce not only high yield of biomass but also matured seeds while the other four varieties produce also high biomass but less matured seeds or even unmatured seeds. Thus,R104 of premature property has a very bright prospect for its extensive cultivation in cold temperate zone with a non-forst period of only 100 days.

Several comparative tests on the growth and development of R104 have been made with such treatments as various seed-sowing date, water content of soil, salt content of soil and fertilizing,the aim being to examine the biological and ecological properties of R104 and find out technological measures for practical cultivation. The results are as follows.

1. R104 is a kind of temperature plants. Seeds will germinate and grow into seedling only when the daily average temperature is up to 10℃.When average temperature rises up to between 20 and 23℃,the plants will grow fastest. The seed sowing date should be from 1st May to 15 May. If seeds are sowed earlier they will not germinate, but if seeds are sowed too late the plants cannot produce new matured seeds.

2. R104 is a photophilous plant. Under the condition of adequate water, its leaves will not wilt even under the light intensity of 140000LX. But if light intensity is below 20000LX, the plants will grow slowly.

3. R104 is of relatively strong drought-resistant capacity. The Xilinguole steppe region belongs to the semi-arid zone. When total rainfall is about 210mm during growing season of from May to September, the biomass of R104 can still reach a certain level without irrigation, but could be double with it.

4. It is possible to get 100t/ha of biomass and 3000kg/ha of R104 seeds under the condition of irrigation and fertilization.

5. R104 is of strong saline-resistant capacity too, and its plants can develep normally when soil pH value is about pH9 and salt content of soil less than 0.6%.But biomass of R104 will decrease if salt content of soil is more than 0.8%.

The stem, leaf and seed of the R104 plant have high contents of protein, fat, vitamin and mineral elements, The seeds have all the essential amino acids needed by human beings, in particular, the content of lysine being the ghighest. Therefore, to develop entensive cultivation of R104 is of important value for improvement of food stuff quality and as a new source of forage.

The Xilinguole Steppe Natural Reserve was set up in August 1985 and designated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO/MAB in 1988. Its planning was assessed and compared with the general principles of a biosphere reserve and was found to have several faults in its functional pattern and institutional cooperation, which makes it far from being a fully functioning biosphere reserve.

As regards the functional pattern the author suggests that:

1. In addition to the five core areas for meadow steppe, typical steppe and forests in the reserve, the abundant wetland vegetation and the corresponding wetland ecosystems along the Xilin River and lakes should be taken into account and a core area located in the river′s upstream should therefore be established;

2. Conservative management and environmental monitoring activities could be performed in the core areas;

3. The buffer zone surrounding the Picea meyeri forest core area should be combined with that surrounding the core area of Populus-Betula forest so as to form a broader buffer zone, so that coniferous forests, deciduous broadleave forests, brushwood and meadow steppe landscapes would merge into an entity;

4. Within the transition area effective cooperation amongst various institutions and local pastoralists should be established and enhanced;

As regards the institutional cooperation the followingsuggestions are put forward:

1. To organize a cooperative committee in which meetings can be held by the representatives from the Conservational Pureau,Baiyinxile Livestock Farm and Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station of Academia Sinica as well as local people;

2. To draw up a master plan which taks into account all the core areas.