Abstract: From 2006 to 2008,we used live traps to investigate the rodent community in an area of the Alxa desert in which grazing was prohibited. The plant community also was surveyed using quadrat methods in the study areas. The relationship between the rodent and plant communities was analyzed using de-trended correspondence analysis (DCA)and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Based on DCA and CCA,there is a correlation between the rodent community and the plant community. The DCA analysis showed that the rodent community structure varied significantly among the three study years. The seasonal characteristics of the rodent community structure were significantly different in 2007 and 2008, and different between two years,but were the same in 2006. The results of CCA demonstrated that Meriones unguiculatus and Merionesmeri dianus were significantly correlated with the vegetation characteristics;Phodopus roborovskii,Allocricetulus eversmanni and Spermophilus alaschanicus were correlated with shrub height and canopy cover;while Mus musculus and Dipus sagitta were not significantly correlated with the vegetation characteristics.

Key words: Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), Correspondence analysis, Desert, Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), Rodent

关键词: 荒漠, 啮齿动物, 对应分析, DCA, CCA