Abstract: By using micro-lysimeter, this paper measured the daily evapotranspiration of Leymus chinensis steppe community at its heavily deteriorated, moderately deteriorated, and non-deteriorated phases. The results showed that at all phases, the daily evapotranspiration of the community increased with its growth, being the maximum from mid June to mid July, and decreased then. Daily mean air temperature and soil water content were the main factors affecting the evapotranspiration of the community, and significant correlations were observed between the evapotranspiration and these two factors. The accumulated evapotranspiration in the whole growth season decreased with the deterioration of the community, and its amount was always lower than the accumulated precipitation.

Key words: Recovery of fertilizer, Field experiment