It is important for the health of grassland ecosystem in animal husbandry, environment protection, soil and water conservation and so on. The grazing disturbance is a crucial factor of influencing grassland health. The study site is located at Hulunbeir, Inner Mongolia, in a Stipa baicalensis steppe. Based on experience, grassland community with different grazing radius was quantitatively classified. The indicators on plant community and soil were analyzed to offer basal data in grassland ecosystem health assessment. The major results as follows: (1)Different grazing areas were classified with experienced and quantitative methods, and plant and soil characteristics were compared. (2)There was appropriate grazing intensity in moderate-grazing area, with small changes in community composition and restorable arrange for disturbance. (3)Vertical distributions of belowground biomass were similar among non-grazing and grazing areas. Belowground biomass was decreased with depth increasing. Belowground biomass at the depth of 0-30 cm was significant influenced by grazing, amounting to above 70% of the total belowground biomass. (4)The indicators were chosen to assess grassland ecosystem health of different degraded gradients, including total aboveground biomass, litterfall, total coverage, Stipa baicalensis and Leymus chinensis aboveground biomass, sum of Stipa baicalensis and Leymus chinense aboveground biomass, soil electrical conductivity, soil pH value. These indicators were sensitive to grazing disturbance. (5)In general, litterfall, total coverage, soil pH value were the most appropriate indicators in this study area. |