There have been many studies on the analysis of plant population pattern, but most of them speculate from the pattern process, and rarely test the pattern according to the known ecological process. In this paper, the Gagea nigra population distributed in the Ili River Valley in Xinjiang was taken as the research object. Gagea nigra is an ephemeral plant, and its population structure and distribution are mainly related to the intraspecific competition process when there is no other disturbances. This study established 8 duplicate plots (with an area of 2 m×2 m) at grazing disturbance and ungrazing disturbance sites, respectively, and analyzed the impacts of grazing disturbance and intraspecific competition on the spatial distribution pattern of Gagea nigra population. A total of 4677 individuals were measured at two sites, with a total of 819 individuals at grazing site and 3858 individuals at ungrazing site. The population density ranged from 72.5 to 159.25 individuals/m² in ungrazing disturbance site, with an average of 120.56 individuals/m², which was significantly higher than that of grazing disturbance sites. Under grazing disturbance, the Gagea nigra populations in all 8 plots showed random distribution at small scale (r<2 cm) and aggregated distribution at larger scale (r>2 cm), which mainly related to habitat heterogeneity introduced by grazing and trampling; Under ungrazing conditions, the Gagea nigra exhibited significant uniform distribution at small scale (0<r≤1.81 cm), while it exhibited random distribution at larger scale (1.82<r<9.56 cm). The former was mainly related to intraspecific resource competition, while the latter was mainly related to habitat homogenization. No matter under no grazing or grazing disturbance, the maximum aggregation scale of the Gagea nigra population decreased with the increase of population density, and there was a significant negative correlation between the two variables (P<0.05). The maximum aggregation scale of the population under grazing disturbance ranged from 20.26 to 168.71 cm², with an average value of 54.61 cm², which was significantly higher than the 8.26 cm² under ungrazing conditions. Therefore, the two ecological processes, grazing disturbance and intraspecific competition, have produced clear and different spatial distribution patterns, and grazing disturbance has led to greater spatial aggregation at larger scale in Gagea nigra population, highlighting the importance of disturbance in the formation of population spatial distribution patterns. This study provides certain theoretical support for understanding how ecological processes generate population spatial distribution patterns. In view of grassland restoration, special attention should be paid to the positive feedback regulation mechanism generated by grazing interference to prevent the continuous deterioration of the grassland.