[Keerqin], Jirem [Zhelimu], and Songnen Plains, northeast of Chifeng and east of the Daxinganling Mountains (Map 1-3). The regional vegetation map of China (Map 1-2) shows that these grazing areas extend well into the adjacent Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces.

The climate of the steppe region of China is cold and dry in winter and relatively warm in summer. Figure 3-1, a Klimadiagram for Chifeng City, shows five months of the year with a mean temperature of less than 0°C. The forest steppe zone differs from the other steppe regions by having more total rainfall, particularly summer rainfall, thereby contributing to potentially higher biological productivity. Jiang Fengqi (1984), professor at the Institute of Applied Ecology in Shenyang, demonstrates the relationship between the higher

Figure 3-1 Klimadiagram, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. NOTE: Chifeng is grassland area at 571 m elevation. The left scale of the diagram is in degrees Celsiu (10°C per scale unit) and shows the monthly means (open symbols). The extreme minimum and maximum temperatures are shown on the left. The mean annual temperature is second from the upper right. The right scale is monthly precipitation (20 mm per scale unit, closed symbols). The annual precipitation is shown at the upper right. The solid horizonal line indicates the period when the monthly mean minimum temperature is below 0°C; the dashed bar, when the lowest of several minimum temperatures extends below 0°C.