Abstract: In this paper, TWINSPAN and CCA analyses were wsed to study the relationship between plant community characteristic index and soil factors in the Alice Lake wetland of Xinjiang arid area. The results showed that the major 29 plant species in the wetland belonged to 27 genera, 12 families and 4 ecological species groups, and most species had low abundance. Populus euphratica, Tamarix hispida, Phragmites australis and Nitraria sibirica were the most common species. TWINSPAN analysis showed that 25 sampling plots could be classified into three groups. Group 1 contained 6 sites, Group 2 contained 18 sites, and Group 3 contained 1 site, which represented three habitats with different contents of soil organic matter, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. The results of CCA analysis were basically consistent with those of TWINSPAN analysis, indicating that the major environment variables affecting the plant coverage in Alice Lake wetland were soil organic matter, total nitrogen and total phosphorus.

Key words: Limestone, Degraded ecosystem, Soil enzyme