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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2024, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6): 187-194.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2024.00112

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The characteristics and stability of plant communities in the northern desert area of the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin

Jun Lei1,2(), Xinping Cheng1,2, Chun Xue1, Hongmei Liu1, Yuhong Zhao1,2, Mingmin Xiao1   

  1. 1.Academy of Water Resources Conservation Forest of Qilian Mountains of Gansu Province,Zhangye 734000,Gansu,China
    2.Academy of Ecology Science of Zhangye,Zhangye 734000,Gansu,China
  • Received:2024-05-27 Revised:2024-08-17 Online:2024-11-20 Published:2024-12-06

Abstract:

The desert vegetation community in the Heihe River Basin is the first green defense line to prevent wind and sand from entering the inland of China, and is a natural barrier to protect the Hexi Corridor and even the Northwest China. In order to comprehensively grasp the vegetation types, distribution characteristics, and stability in the northern desert area of the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin, this article takes the vegetation community in the northern desert area of the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin as the research object, and uses multi-year field investigation method to analyze the vegetation community characteristics and stability in the northern desert area of the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin. The results show that: (1) The vegetation community structure in the study area is relatively simple, with a total of 80 species of higher plants belonging to 23 families and 61 genera, of which angiosperms account for 97.5% of the total species. The six families of Tribulus, Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Leguminosae, Asteraceae, and Rosaceae account for 75.0% of the total species. (2) The layer structure of the vegetation community is simple, consisting of shrubs, semi shrubs, small shrubs, and herbaceous plants. The vegetation life form composition is dominated by herbaceous plants, accounting for 67.5% of the total species. Perennial herbs account for 47.5% of the total species, while annual herbs and shrubs account for 20.0% and 32.5% of the total species, respectively. The number of perennial herbaceous plant species has a clear advantage. Shrubs are community building species and belong to the stable layer of the community, while annual herbs belong to the unstable layer of the community. (3) The most stable community in the study area is the Nitraria tangutorum+Caroxylon passerinum community. In summary, the plant species in the northern desert area of the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin are poor, the community coverage is low, and the stability is weak. It is recommended to strengthen the protection and restoration of desert vegetation, especially the protection and restoration of stable communities, to maintain the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem.

Key words: plant community, stability, northern desert area, the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin

CLC Number: