Abstract: This paper reports the preliminary results of vegetation surveyed along the China-Pakistan Karakoram Highway. A field vegetation investigation was carried out in 74 sample plots along the selected and randomly-selected 14 typical sample lines in September 2009 and September 2010. Length of the sample lines was designed for about 200 m based on the local topographical conditions, the plot size for grasslands was 1 m×1 m or 5 m×5 m, and that for shrubberies was 5 m×5 m or 10 m×10 m, respectively. In the paper, the vegetation types along the highway were determined using the PhytocoenologyEcology principles, and the properties and distribution of each vegetation type were described in detail. The results show that vegetation along the highway can be classified into 5 types, 11 subtypes and 19 formations. Among these vegetation types, desert vegetation is distributed most widely, distribution of grassland vegetation is the lowest, and mountain deciduous broadleaf forest is the smallest vegetation type in this area. Vertical vegetation belts are very clear. According to the elevation, vegetation there can be divided into mountain desert belt (below 4 000 m a. s. l.), alpine Hungriness belt (4 000-4 550 m), alpine steppe belt (4 550~4 650 m) and mountain meadow belt (above 4 650 m). The results of this study are significant for conserving and regenerating vegetation along the China-Pakistan Karakoram Highway.

Key words: vegetation type, plant community, vertical vegetation belt, plant protection, Karakoram Highway, China-Pakistan