Abstract: How the plants adapt to the serious environments such as low temperature, strong solar radiation, strong wind, and poor soil fertility in alpine areas is a popular question which has becn paid much attention in alpine ecology. Cushion plants area group of representative plants in alpine areas, whose compact and huge surface structure can change their surrounding micro-environments, e.g., can regulate maximum and minimum temperature, improve soil humidity and nutrient availability, and reduce wind erosion. The changed micro-environments by cushion plants can benefit other alpine plants, and improve the species diversity of plant community. Therefore, cushion plants are called as the ecosystem engineers in alpine ecosystem, and the ecosystem engineering of cushion plants is an important way for plants to adapt alpine environments. The environmental change, such as the changes of altitude and water resources, can affect the ecosystem engineering of cushion plants, and a major research challenge is to understand the regulation mechanism and magnitude of cushion plants, which is of significance in predicting the future dynamics of alpine plant community under climate change.

Key words: Spatial neighboring characteristics, Oasis, Ecological security, Jinta County