Plants can adjust changes in leaf or root function to adapt to climate change and to form a diversity of environmental adaptation strategies. The study focused on steppe communities with different precipitation in temperate steppe of Inner Mongolia (the steppe of Duolun, which is wetter, and the steppe of Zhengxiangbaiqi, which is drier), the root functional traits (root diameter, specific root length and root tissue density) and leaf functional traits (leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf carbon content and leaf nitrogen content) of community dominant species from two steppe communities (20 species in Duolun and 13 species in Zhengxiangbaiqi) and eight common species (8 species) were measured, respectively, by analyzing the variation of root and leaf traits and their relationships, to study on adaptation strategies of grass species to different precipitation environments. It provides theoretical basis for the selection of grass species and grassland management in different precipitation regions. The results showed that: (1) with the change of precipitation, there was no significant difference in root traits between the two communities, the specific leaf area of grassland plants in Duolun is significantly higher than that in Zhengxiangbaiqi. The leaf dry matter content and leaf carbon content showed the opposite trend. The monocotyledonous grasses of the two grassland communities had the smallest root diameter and the largest root length, the leaf dry matter content was the highest. The root tissue density of monocotyledonous liliaceae is the smallest and leaf dry matter content and leaf nitrogen content were the lowest. Dicotyledonous nongrass plants have the highest root tissue density, the specific leaf area was the highest and the leaf area was the lowest. (2) As precipitation decreases, the leaf area and specific leaf area of the common species of the two communities decreased, leaf dry matter content and leaf carbon content increased. Among them, the diameter of Leymus chinensis, Agropyron cristatum and Cleistogenes squarrosa increased, specific root length and root tissue density decreased, the diameter and specific root length of Artemisia scoparia showed the opposite trend. The leaf nitrogen content of Cleistogenes squarrosa, Leymus chinensis and A. scoparia increased, and the leaf nitrogen content of A. cristatum and Stipa krylovii decreased. (3) Principal component analysis shows that, there is little correlation between root and leaf traits in single steppe or integrated steppe. The results showed that the root traits of monocotyledonous grasses were significantly different in precipitation, while that of dicotyledonous nongrasses were almost unchanged. The effect of drought on leaf traits was greater than that on root traits. Under different precipitation conditions, grassland plant roots have unique ways of resource acquisition, the adaptation strategies of root and leaf traits to environmental changes were independent.