Abstract:

Desert is one of the important terrestrial ecosystems in Northern China and covers 1/5 of the land of China. Plant community is an important part of the desert ecosystem， which has important implications for the enhancement of Northern Ecological Shelter Zone， and for the implementation of state key ecological projects， as well as for the Belt and the Road Initiative and economic-social development. The surveying zone includes Tarim-Jungar basin deserts， Qinghai-Tibet Plateau desert， Alax-Hexi Corridor desert， West Edos and North-to-Yinshan desert， and semi-arid desert-like sandy lands in the middle and eastern Inner-Mongolia. A total of 2 300 sample sites were set up systematically to investigate vegetation types， species composition， spatial distribution， and habitat attributes of desert plant communities across northern China. There were 8 300 plant specimens， 50 000 habitat parameters， and 2 300 DNA bar-codes obtained in the present study. On this base， a report on the desert plant community types， characteristics and status， and the atlas of distribution of desert plant communities will be compiled， as well as a monitoring system will be built for future long-term surveying. The data supporting the above report， atlas， and monitoring system will be pooled into a data bank of the major desert plant communities in China， being shared through the National Cryosphere Desert Data Center （NCDC）. This project and the output will provide solid support for combating desertification， plant conservation and sustainable development in the northern part of China.

Key words: desert, plant community, characteristics, DNA bar-code, data bank