Biological soil crusts (BSCs) have been found in deserts all over the world and may constitute as high as 70% of the living cover in some plant communities. BSCs can directly or indirectly influence seed germination and establishment of vascular plants,and seeds biological characteristics (such as seed appendages) also play an important role on seed germination.However, the interactive effects of BSCs and seed appendages on seed germination are poorly understand.In this study, our objective was to know more about BSCs-seed appendages interaction on seed germination of dominant vascular plants in the Gurbantunggut Desert of western China.We chose four typical, widely distributed Chenopodiaceous species (Haloxylon ammodendron,Salsola subcrassa, Ceratoides ewersmanniana and Ceratocarpus arenarius) which owned different seed appendages. Seeds belonged to two treatments (appendages were removed and remained) were sown at the surface of three matrices (moss crusts, lichen crusts, bare sand) and their emergence was observed. Final germination results showed that seed's bracts appendages of H. ammodendron and S. subcrassa significantly inhibited germination rate.Hair appendages of C. ewersmanniana and spine appendages of C. arenarius had no significant effects on seed germination. Moss crusts should be noted because they significantly inhibited seed germination of all species. Although lichen crusts significantly inhibited seed germination of S. subcrassa, they had no obvious effect on the rest three species. Among the four species,the seed germination of S. subcrassa was significantly inhibited due to the BSCs-seeds appendages interaction.Hence, BSCs have different effects on seed germination of desert plants that with different appendages, resulting in the spatial heterogeneity of seed germination of vascular plants, and affect the distribution and diversity of vascular plants.
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