The plateau zokor is an endemic species in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and plays a key role in alpine meadow ecosystem function.Knowledge of their habitat selection is important for understanding their ecology,efficient management and biodiversity conservation of the grassland ecosystem.From 2012 to 2013 we investigated habitat selection of zokors at different spatial scales in the northern Qilian Mountains.At the large spatial scale,we selected three plateau zokor distributions 500 km apart from each other.At the medium scale,we selected 40 hectare areas inhabited by zokor in Nan Nigou village of Tianzhu county.At the small scale we sampled 2.2 hectare areas each covered by a home range of plateau zokor in alpine meadow in Tianzhu Grassland Workstation.At each scale of investigation,the structure of the plant community (herbage coverage,height,density and biomass) ,terrain (aspect and slope) and soil condition (compaction,moisture and pH) were measured.The results showed that the soil compaction at three depths (l0~10cm,10~20cm,20~30cm) and the soil temperature in 0~10cm were the main factors that influenced zokor habitat selection at the large scale.At the medium scale,the slope and forbs coverage had a significant impact on habitat selection of the plateau zokor.At the small scale,the habitat selection of individual zokor was affected by the soil compaction,soil temperature and soil pH.