Abstract: One-year-old mango (Mangifera indica L. cv. Tainong 1) graft seedlings were experimented in climate growth chambers, in which six daily minimum temperatures (T_min) were set as 2, 1, 0, -1, -2 and -3 ℃, with the daily range of 15 ℃ and 6 ℃ for 1, 2 or 3 d. The subsequent observation was conducted on the changes of leaves, and the relevant physiological indexes, including superoxide dismutase  activity, soluble sugars, proline, soluble proteins, and ion leakage, MDA concentrations in leaves of mango seedlings, were determined. The chilling injury index of mango seedlings was established based on the injury symptoms and the physiological indexes in relation to T_min and its duration. Then a more precise index for short-term cold injury was procured with five geographical displacement experiments, in which mango seedlings were exposed to natural low temperature. The result showed that the mango seedlings were killed when low temperature was below -1 ℃, but they grew normally when low temperature was above 3 ℃ (≤3 d). When low temperature was between 3 and 5 ℃ for 9 days, mango seedlings showed no injury symptoms at all. The results provide reference for regionalization, introduction and extension of mango plants.

Key words: community characteristics, environmental factors, riparian zone plants, macrobenthos, CCA., aquatic macrophytes