Species-environment relationships is a central issue in ecology and important to plant reconstruction and management in degraded ecosystems. We explored how the interactions among soil nutrients, salinity, and ion ratios influence vegetation distribution in the Hetao Irrigation Region drainage ditch banks. Twoway indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) techniques and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) were used to classify the vegetation and to examine the relationships between vegetation and soil chemical properties. The plant communities ofSaussurea salsa–Phragmites australis–Sonchus arvensisandLeymus chinensis–Sonchus arvensisoccurred within 161 of a total 245 plots. Edaphic factors exerted the strongest influence on vegetation patterns and distributions, with available soil nutrient content being identified as the dominant factor, followed by soil salinity and soil pH. Maintaining soil nutrient and salinity at moderate levels is an efficient approach to prevent species loss in the drainage ditch banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]