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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (1): 219-228.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00354

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Research progress on adventitious roots of sand-fixing shrubs in arid desert regions

Jiayi Liu1,2(), Weicheng Luo1(), Wenzhi Zhao1, Bin Guo3, Hai Zhou1, Heng Ren1   

  1. 1.Gansu Linze National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of Farmland Ecosystem / State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands,Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
    2.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China
    3.College of Forestry,Gansu Agricultural University,Lanzhou 730070,China
  • Received:2025-11-23 Revised:2025-12-25 Online:2026-01-20 Published:2026-03-09
  • Contact: Weicheng Luo

Abstract:

Sand-fixing shrubs are vital components of desert ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions, playing significant roles in combating aeolian sand erosion and preserving biodiversity. Adventitious roots are roots that develop from non-root tissues, such as stems. The growth of adventitious roots is directly linked to plant water and nutrient use efficiency, habitat adaptability, and the success of clonal propagation. Consequently, adventitious root formation is thought to be a crucial strategy for sand-fixing shrubs to cope with water and nutrient stress as well as disturbances caused by aeolian sand activity in desert ecosystems. Research on the formation and developmental mechanisms, morphological characteristics, and ecological functions of adventitious roots in sand-fixing shrubs has received increasing attention worldwide, and notable progress has been made in recent years. However, a systematic and comprehensive synthesis of existing findings remains limited. This paper systematically reviews current findings on the developmental mechanisms, architectural characteristics, and environmental roles of adventitious roots in sand-fixing shrubs, revealing that adventitious roots generally exhibit high plasticity and possess strong water and nutrient uptake capacities, serving as a critical adaptation strategy to stressors such as drought and sand burial. Furthermore, the development of adventitious roots is directly linked to the clonal reproduction in clonal sand-fixing shrubs, playing an essential role in natural regeneration and population maintenance and expansion of sand-fixing shrubs under extreme habitats. Nevertheless, against the backdrop of intensifying global change, key questions regarding the developmental mechanisms, ecological functions, and plant-soil feedbacks of adventitious roots in sand-fixing shrubs remain unresolved. Therefore, future research urgently needs to prioritize long-term, multi-species, and multi-scale monitoring of adventitious roots in sand-fixing shrubs across sandy habitats. By integrating modern techniques such as isotope tracing, genomics, and transcriptomics, studies should aim to elucidate the molecular regulatory mechanisms of adventitious root development under various environmental stresses and clarify their critical roles in plant water and nutrient absorption. This will contribute to advancing the theoretical framework of desert belowground ecology and provide a scientific basis for vegetation establishment, management, and ecological restoration in arid desert regions.

Key words: sand-fixing shrubs, adventitious roots, developmental mechanism, ecological function, environmental regulation

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