## 3 Results  
### Total Aboveground Biomass and its Distribution in Different Banners  
The unitary linear regression model was selected for estimating the aboveground biomass of the Xilingol grassland for the years 2005-2012 (Table 2). The average aboveground biomass of the Xilingol grassland for the years 2005-2012 was 14.35 Tg (1 Tg = 10\({}^{12}\) g). The annual average aboveground biomass was highest in East Ujimqin Banner (approximately 4.15 Tg), 28.92% of the total biomass of the Xilingol grassland. The annual average aboveground biomass in West Ujimqin Banner was approximately 2.58 Tg, 17.98% of the total biomass in the Xilingol grassland. As the biomass of these two Banners represented nearly one-half of the total biomass, the two banners play an important role in pasture management and in the protection of grassland resources in Xilingol. The annual average aboveground biomass in Erenhot City, Taibus Banner, Xianghuang Banner, Duolun County and Zhengxiangbai Banner were relatively low, accounting for less than 10% of the aboveground biomass of the Xilingol grassland. An analysis of the data presented in Table 3 showed that the average density of the aboveground biomass of the Xilingol grassland for the years 2005-2012 was 71.32 g\(\cdot\)m\({}^{-2}\). This value is generally in agreement with the average aboveground biomass density estimated for the Xilingol grassland for the years 2001-2012 by [PERSON], _et al._[23] using the NDVI. In addition, there was a substantial difference in the aboveground biomass density among the different banners. The aboveground biomass density was greater than 90 g\(\cdot\)m\({}^{-2}\) in Duolun County, Taipusi Banner, West Ujimqin Banner, Zhenglan Banner and East Ujimqin Banner, where growth conditions for grassland vegetation are generally good. In contrast, the aboveground biomass density in Erenhot City, Sonid Right Banner and Sonid Left Banner were relatively low, as growth conditions for grassland vegetation were generally poor in these areas. Figure 3: Relationship between the estimated aboveground biomass and actual aboveground biomass. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Banners**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Grassland**} & \multicolumn{8}{c}{**Total Aboveground Biomass (Tg)**} \\ \cline{3-11}  & & **Area (km\({}^{2}\))** & **2005** & **2006** & **2007** & **2008** & **2009** & **2010** & **2011** & **2012** & **Average** \\ \hline East Ujimqin Banner & 45,060 & 5.72 & 3.79 & 2.49 & 3.90 & 4.06 & 4.15 & 4.11 & 5.00 & 4.15 \\ Abaga Banner & 27,492 & 1.79 & 1.51 & 1.38 & 2.00 & 1.73 & 1.65 & 1.56 & 2.40 & 1.75 \\ West Ujimqin Banner & 23,726 & 3.49 & 2.53 & 1.83 & 2.68 & 2.08 & 2.50 & 2.46 & 3.06 & 2.58 \\ Sonid Left Banner & 34,814 & 1.21 & 1.00 & 1.01 & 1.30 & 1.20 & 0.95 & 1.05 & 1.54 & 1.15 \\ Xilinhot City & 15,753 & 1.44 & 1.23 & 1.00 & 1.40 & 1.10 & 1.28 & 1.09 & 1.60 & 1.27 \\ Erenhot City & 186 & 0.0029 & 0.0020 & 0.0017 & 0.0026 & 0.0020 & 0.0015 & 0.0017 & 0.0025 & 0.0021 \\ Sonid Right Banner & 25,212 & 0.90 & 0.70 & 0.59 & 0.80 & 0.67 & 0.55 & 0.65 & 0.88 & 0.72 \\ Zhenglan Banner & 10,281 & 1.09 & 1.05 & 0.84 & 1.15 & 0.99 & 0.87 & 1.05 & 1.15 & 1.02 \\ Zhengxiangbai Banner & 6256 & 0.48 & 0.48 & 0.36 & 0.50 & 0.42 & 0.35 & 0.46 & 0.52 & 0.44 \\ Xianghuang Banner & 5018 & 0.30 & 0.31 & 0.22 & 0.29 & 0.27 & 0.23 & 0.31 & 0.33 & 0.28 \\ Duolun County & 3955 & 0.59 & 0.56 & 0.47 & 0.57 & 0.53 & 0.48 & 0.58 & 0.58 & 0.54 \\ Taipusi Banner & 3496 & 0.43 & 0.47 & 0.36 & 0.50 & 0.39 & 0.38 & 0.46 & 0.48 & 0.43 \\ Total & 201,249 & 17.44 & 13.62 & 10.56 & 15.07 & 13.42 & 13.39 & 13.79 & 17.54 & 14.35 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Annual aboveground biomass in different banners.