Plant Species Composition and Floristic Features of the National Nature Reserve in Minqin Liangucheng, Gansu

Abstract Background The fragile desert ecosystem of Minqin Lian Ancient City National Nature Reserve has protected some wild animal and plant resources to some extent, so the research value is very high, but there are few studies on the flora. Results Looking at the composition of genera and species within families, there are 23 families, 41 genera, and 65 species that are oligotypic (2–9 species) and monotypic (only 1 species), which are the main structures at the family level; there are 76 monotypic genera, which are the main components of the genus structure, accounting for 64.96% of the total genera and 32.32% of the total species; the reserve is divided into 5 types of plant life forms, with herbaceous plants being the major component, accounting for 63.13% of the total species; the reserve is dominated by xerophytic plants, which account for 57.07% of total species, and has the fewest hydrophytic plants, accounting for 9.09% of total species; the 30 families of seed plants in the reserve can be divided into 4 orthotypes and 4 variant types, with 18 families of cosmopolitan distribution, accounting for 60.00% of the total families; the genera of North Temperate type are the most, totaling 24 genera, accounting for 20.51% of the total genera, Mediterranean region and West Asia to Central Asia share 23 genera, accounting for 19.66% of the total genera, cosmopolitan distribution is 18 genera, accounting for 15.38% of the total, pan-tropical shared distribution is 12 genera, accounting for 10.26% of the total genera, and Central Asia and Eastern Central Asia distribution is 10 genera, accounting for 8.55% of the total genera. Conclusion To improve the relevant flora data of the reserve, to provide important basic data and scientific basis for the protection and management of Minqin Lian Ancient City Nature Reserve, and to provide a theoretical basis for the protection and restoration of the desert ecosystem in western China.