Based on 53 occurrence records of five Schistidium species from Xinjiang, which is a desiccationtolerant moss genus, and 7 bioclimatic variables, the present study employed both the maximum entropy (Maxent) model and the spatial analysis method in the ArcGIS 10.2 to predict the suitable distributions of Schistidium in Xinjiang under current and future climate scenarios, in order to provide basis for exploring the influence of climate change on bryophyte species distributions in arid and semiarid zones. The results indicated that: (1) the Maxent model gave a high accuracy (i.e. AUC=0.957) in habitat predictions for Schistidium; (2) The annual precipitation, precipitation of driest quarter and mean temperature of warmest quarter were the major climatic factors influencing the distribution of Schistidium in Xinjiang; (3) The suitable distribution of Schistidium in Xinjiang mainly located along Altai and Tianshan Mountains. Under the future (i.e. 2061-2080) climate scenarios, the range of Schistidium was predicted to decrease by 10.39% and most current habitats in south of Xinjiang would lost.