Abstract:

The complex environment and climate of west Helan Mountains in Inner Mongolia cultivate a variety of plant species and vegetation types.Based on a large number of field investigations,this paper studied the flora,vegetation classification system and types of west Helan Mountains in Inner Mongolia,as well as the general situation of main vegetation types.The results revealed that there were 357 genera and 788 species of wild vascular plants in the study area.Vegetation types in the study area include forest,shrub,grassland,open forest,desert,meadow and aquatic and marsh vegetation.Finally,the spatial pattern of vegetation in the study area was studied from vertical differentiation,horizontal differentiation and slope differentiation respectively.

Key words: Helan Mountains, flora, plant diversity, vegetation type, spatial pattern, Inner Mongolia