Abstract:Taking Wulat desert as the research area, we investigated and analyzed the natural vegetation and the soil characteristics with the sampling method. The results show that: (1) there are 137 species of plants in the study area, belonging to 25 families and 80 genera. Herbaceous plants are the main life forms, accounting for 67.88% of the total plant species. Xerophytes are the main water ecological types, accounting for 76.64% of the total. (2) According to the vegetation of China, the vegetation types of Wulat desert can be divided into 3 vegetation subtypes, 5 formation groups and 14 formations. The dominant formation is Salsola paserina desert, and the number of its clusters accounts for 16.35% of the total desert clusters. (3) The species composition of vegetation is relatively single, ranging from 5 to 25 species. (4) The evenness index was negatively correlated with soil bulk density, water content and porosity, while the richness index and diversity index were negatively correlated with soil bulk density, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and organic matter.