Abstract: Apreliminary study on the species composition, ecological characteristics and present distribution of vegetations in Mengyang area, the largest part of Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve, shows that there are 7 vegetation types, 15 formations, 24 community types in this area.The vegetation map was made by using GISsoftware (ARC/INFO), and the area and distribution pattern of each community was obtained.The subtropical monsoon evergreen broad leaved forest occupies the largest part, with an area of 41.26% of the whole, and the tropical rain forest occupies less than 10% of the whole area.According to the topography, altitude, climate characters and present distribution of the vegetation,and based on the landscape type map, an original vegetation map under natural conditions was obtained,which could provid a theory for the vegetation restoration, especially for the tropical rain forest and its habitat, and for the development of the Nature Reserve.

Key words: Xishuangbanna, Tropical area, Nature reserve, Vegetation type, Ecological characteristics, Geographical Information System, species distribution model, statistical model, marine species, model evaluation, mechanism model