Vegetos

Abstract

Using list of flora and geographical information, coupled with GIS and statistical methods, the study was to investigate spatial patterns of shrub species diversity in Xinjiang, China, and its relationship with geographical factors. Presently, there are 416 species (including 20 varieties) of shrubs belonging to 35 families and 109 genera in Xinjiang. Shrubs are confined to the northern part of Xinjiang at families, genera and species levels, and Altay prefecture, Yili prefecture and Urumqi are three centers of shrub diversity in Xinjiang. Species richness decreases across Xinjiang from east to west, and has a relationship with other geographical factors. From south to north, shrub species richness increases due to precipitation in Northern Xinjiang being significantly higher than in the south of the province. This results in an increase in shrub diversity with increasing latitude which needs further analysis combining with climate data. Through correlation analysis, species richness was negatively correlated with area. This is due to larger counties containing a large area of desert and Gobi in Xinjiang. The correlation between Xinjiang shrub plant species richness and altitude is significant. As a whole, latitude, altitude mean value and altitude variation significantly affect the distribution patterns of shrub species richness in Xinjiang, with latitude having the strongest influence.