Species composition was compared among areas of abandoned cropland on forest steppe and typical steppe to assess long term effects of cultivation on vegetation in Mongolia. Using phytosociological methods, vegetation surveys were conducted in forest steppe regions on seven stands in cropland idled for 2 years, six stands in cropland abandoned for 25 years, and five stands in lightly grazed pasture. In typical steppe regions, surveys were conducted on 17 stands in cropland idled for 2 years, five stands in cropland abandoned for 21 years, and eight stands in lightly grazed pasture. The surveys were conducted in 2010 and 2011. Non-metric multidimensional scaling and a permutational multivariate analysis of variance were used to clarify the differences in the vegetation recovery process between regions. Using existing phytosociological studies, whether character species is re-established after abandonment in each region was assessed. Consequently, it was demonstrated that species compositional dissimilarity between abandoned cropland and lightly grazed pasture was larger in typical steppe than in forest steppe. The character species were re-established in the abandoned cropland in the forest steppe, whereas they were less in the typical steppe. Cultivation in the typical steppe appeared to have more serious effects on vegetation recovery.