Abstract: Spatial patterns of plant species diversity and plant biomass and their relationships with environmental factors in Aerjin Mountain Nature Reserve (AMNR) were examined in this study. The results indicated that alpine steppe was the major vegetation type in high altitude areas of the southwestern AMNR, swamp meadow and alpine steppe were the major vegetation types in low altitude areas of the northeastern AMNR, and alpine desert was the major vegetation type in middle altitude areas of the northwestern AMNR and low altitude areas of the southeastern AMNR. The species diversity and biomass of plant communities did not vary significantly with the latitude, longitude and altitude gradients. The species diversity index of the plant community was positively correlated to soil total nitrogen, total carbon, organic carbon, and soil moisture. The vegetation biomass of the plant community was positively correlated to soil total nitrogen, soil organic carbon and soil moisture, and negatively correlated to soil bulk density. The integrated effects of geographic, soil and meteorological factors contributed to the spatial heterogeneity of species biodiversity and vegetation biomass of the plant communities in AMNR, and the impacts of soil and meteorological factors were much stronger than that of geographical factors.

Key words: water and fertilizer management, apple orchard, soil water., Weibei dryland