Abstract: The purposes of this study were to investigate the community characteristics and biological characteristics of Lycium ruthenicum in different site types in periphery of the Minqin Oasis.The biological characteristics of L.ruthenicum community included the plant number,height,canopy and distribution pattern in four different site types,and the Ripley’s K function in the spatial point pattern analysis method was used to analyze the spatial distribution pattern of L.ruthenicum.The results are as follows:① Number of plant species in the four site types was in an order of gravel land > saline and alkaline land > fixed or semi-fixed desert and sandy land.Structure of the plant community was relatively simple;② Number of L.ruthenicum plants was the most in the saline and alkaline land,then in the sandy land,and that in the gravel land and fixed or semi-fixed desert were the least.The average plant height was in an order of the fixed or semi-fixed desert > saline and alkaline land > sandy and gravel land,and the distribution of average canopy was similar to that of average plant height;③ In the four plots,L.ruthenicum plants were distributed in a clustering way in the fixed or semi-fixed desert and gravel land;in the sandy desert,however,they were distributed in a clustering way on a small scale (0.2-0.5 m) but in a random way on a larger scale (1.5-2.5 m);in saline and alkaline land,they were distributed in a completely random way.

Key words: site type, Lycium ruthenicum, community, distribution pattern, Ripley’s K function, Minqin Oasis