Abstract:The Elymus sibiricus with strong drought resistance was selected for forage cultivation and breeding in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.In this study,25 Elymus sibiricus germplasm collected from different areas of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were exposed to simulated drought stress in sand culture.The membership function method was used to evaluate the drought resistance of each germplasm,and the drought variation index was introduced to screen the drought resistance evaluation index of Elymus sibiricus.The results of two screening experiments were similar,of which 10-124,14-250,16-335,09-118,G23 and 09-035 were classified as drought-resistant materials,14-234,09-110,Chuancao1,09-089,09-249,09-129,09-150,09-053,G9,13-306,13-360 and 10-005 were classified as medium drought-resistant materials,while 1-1-4-2,09-210,09-149,1-1-5-13,Qingmu1,13-364 and 14-004 were classified as drought-sensitive materials.Leaf area,root:shoot ratio,root length,malondialdehyde,proline,chlorophyll,net photosynthetic rate,maximum photochemical efficiency,photochemical quenching coefficient and apparent electron transfer efficiency had relatively large variation,and they could used as the basis for the selection of drought-resistant germplasm of Elymus sibiricus in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Our study found that six germplasm,including 10-124,14-250,16-335,09-118,G23 and 09-035,had strong drought resistance,which could be used as the preferred materials for forage cultivation and breeding in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Furthermore,leaf area,root:shoot ratio and root length were sensitive to drought stress,which could be used as evaluation indexes for drought resistance of Elymus sibiricus.