The impact of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on plant communities is varied and strongly dependent on the dominant species response, as well as nutrient conditions. Responses of a dominant species (Leymus chinensis) to elevated CO2 and N application were examined with open-top chambers in a typical temperate grassland in northern China for 3 yr. The significant effect of elevated CO2 on L. chinensis growth was mainly reflected in the higher photosynthetic rates, increased leaf number, larger shoot and root biomass, and higher root/shoot (R/S) ratio. Enhancement of root biomass induced by elevated CO2 was larger (40%) than that of shoot biomass (9%). In contrast, N application had a significant impact on most growth indices examined in this study, which was reflected in the enhanced aboveground growth and depressed belowground growth. Nitrogen application significantly reduced the R/S ratio by an average of 40%. Nitrogen addition significantly enhanced the proportion of senescent biomass and decreased the proportion of green leaf biomass tinder elevated CO2. There were no CO2 x N interactions on most of the measured variables, except on photosynthetic rate and the proportion of aboveground biomass. Plant growth variables showed high interannual variation. These results indicate that belowground growth of L. chinensis is more sensitive to elevated CO2 than is the aboveground. Aboveground growth of L. chinensis is Much more sensitive to N application than to CO2 enrichment. Therefore, the effect of elevated CO2 on L. chinensis steppe is more likely to be underestimated if only aboveground parts are considered.