Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine whether litter removal affected the above-ground biomass, the relation between above-ground biomass and different functional groups, and to find whether litter can change the structure of plant communities in typical grasslands. The experiments were conducted in October 2002 and three ‘removal’ treatments were done in typical grassland after they became frozen. There was no significant effect of litter removal on the total above-ground biomass but there was a tendency for the above-ground biomass to increase as the mass of litter removed increased. The effect of litter removal on every different functional group biomass was shown in the 5th year after the removal treatment. The biomass of perennial forbs under the moderate removal treatment was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that under the heavy removal treatment and in the control plots. Perennial bunch grass under heavy removal treatment had significantly (P<0.05) higher biomass than that under moderate removal treatment, but there was no difference from the control plot. Analyses of the correlation between total above-ground biomass and each functional group under the same treatment showed that under the heavy removal treatment, the correlation between total grass and total biomass was the closest and that of perennial forbs was second. The biomass of perennial rhizome grass under the moderate removal treatment was significant (P<0.05) and had the highest correlation with total above-ground biomass. In the control plots, perennial bunch grass had the highest degree of correlation with total above-ground biomass (P<0.05).