Abstract: The history and current situation of grassland in China as well as problems arising from its over grazing, deterioration and biodiversity reduction etc. are systematically introduced. Since 17th century and especially since the founding of new China in 1949, many achievements have been made in all fields of grassland ecology, such as grassland plant resources, plant physioecology, vegetation,and community ecology,grassland animals and soil microorganisms, structure and function of grassland ecosystem, niche and ecological field theory, etc.. These achievements and developmental trends of grassland ecological research are briefly summarized in the paper.

Key words: drought stress, nitrogen fertilization, Jatropha curcas, osmolyte