【Aim】 Ambrosia artemisiifolia is a widely invasive plant that causes serious harm to economic development, human health, and ecological security of the invaded areas. For effective prevention and control, it is essential to study its invasion patterns and proliferation medium, and to cut off its diffusion sources. 【Method】 In this study, using the whole territory of the Yili River Valley in Xinjiang and the method of space instead of time, combined with geostatistics, we investigated the propagation and diffusion characteristics of A. artemisiifolia at different invasion times and in different habitats. These characteristics were quantitatively analyzed, and the diffusion media and pathways were summarized. 【Result】 A total of 186 populations A. artemisiifolia were distributed in the Yili River Valley, and their distribution had clear habitat preferences: both sides of roads, river channels, and under-forests. Population distribution on both road sides was the most frequent, accounting for 32.34% of the total population points distribution, and the distribution area on both river sides was the largest, accounting for 69.01% of the distribution area of the Yili River Valley. Xinyuan County is the main occurrence area of A. artemisiifolia, which has four severely invaded areas and multiple diffusion source areas. 【Conclusion】 The early dispersal distribution of A. artemisiifolia was random, and the populations were concentrated in different habitats. Diffusion media in different habitats have different characteristics, mainly agricultural and animal husbandry material transportation of cattle and sheep. Therefore, both sides of roads and rivers should be the focus of prevention and control measures. Simultaneously, it is necessary to strengthen the supervision of the transportation of agricultural and animal husbandry products and animal activities to reduce animal-assisted diffusion. This study provides important data for the prevention and control of A. artemisiifolia in the Yili River Valley.