Abstract: The rodents were investigated with trap-day method in Alashan Desert of Inner Mongolia from August to September 1998 and 1999. Sixty-five sites were selected according to conditions of vegetation , landform , topography and soil. The area of the site was 10 ha in which 400 - 500 traps were arranged. There were 1019 samples captured with 31 469 effective trap-days in all sites. The results showed that Meriones meridianus was a typical dominant species and Euchoreutes naso was one of representative rodents in Alashan Desert. The Alashan Desert was a new distribution region of Salpingotus crassicauda in China. Therefore , geographical distribution of the three rodents was analyzed with Map-info Professional 6.5 software of GIS (Geographical Information System) . The results showed that the distribution maps of the three rodents , which were obtained on the basis of GIS , not only told the information of prophetical distribution of the three rodents in Alashan Desert , but also reported information of the rodents’distribution affected by habitat change , which can not be obtained by traditional site2distribution ways. This result can be used as scientific foundation for perfecting research design and monitoring harmful rodents in future.

Key words: Rodent, Geographical distribution, GIS, Alashan Desert

关键词: 啮齿动物, 地理分布, 地理信息系统, 阿拉善荒漠