Studies on three-dimensional zonality of the vegetation in Shanxi based on GIS

The zonality of vegetation was described with atlas or graph in the world, in a country, or in a region, but the correlations between vegetation and longitude and latitude or altitude was drawn indirectly with statistical methods. This paper studies quantitatively the correlations on the basis of formations and distributions of vegetation. Based on the vegetation atlas of Shanxi, every patch of vegetation was edited and its longitude, latitude, and altitude were drawn in ArcGIS software. Every patch was classified under formation, and formation was classified under vegetation. Correlations between vegetation and latitude, longitude, altitude were analyzed in SPSS software. Vegetation, forest, scrub, herbaceous vegetation, and cultivated vegetation had their own zonality. Forest and herbaceous vegetation were more complicated than others. The distribution of vegetation is discussed in large area with quantitative results. It testifies and verifies the zonality of vegetation described with the atlas and graph and goes into the further specifications, on one hand. And it discusses the zonality of all levels of vegetation such as coniferous forest, broadleaf forest, summergreen broad-leaf forest, on the other hand.