The forest-steppe ecotone on the southeastern edge of the Inner Mongolia Plateau was studied to understand the transition between forests and grasslands. By analyzing plant communities using satellite images, researchers identified three main landscape units: forest grassland, woodland steppe, and mountainous woodland steppe. They found high species turnover between these zones, with endemic species in the forest indicating it hasn't reached its climate limit. The climate changes from warm and humid to cold and humid as you move from forest to grassland, with decreasing precipitation and milder temperatures. Lack of water is the main reason for the absence of trees in the steppe zone. The Ulmus pumila open forest is not part of the forest-steppe landscape but an extra distribution within the steppe zone.