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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (4): 333-342.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00294

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Effects of Haloxylon ammodendron afforestation on ground arthropod diversity in mobile sand dunes

Jiliang Liu1(), Yongzhen Wang1, Yilin Feng2, Wenzhi Zhao1, Zhibin He1, Xiaogan Zhou3, Xiuzhen Zhao3, Chengchen Pan1()   

  1. 1.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.Chengdu Institute of Biology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chengdu 610213,China
    3.College of Forestry,Gansu Agricultural University,Lanzhou 730070,China
  • Received:2025-09-26 Revised:2025-12-16 Online:2026-07-20 Published:2026-08-27
  • Contact: Chengchen Pan

Abstract:

Artificial sand-fixing vegetation establishment and management in arid and semi-arid regions drive significant changes in vegetation and soil environments, profoundly influencing desert arthropod diversity and ecological functions. However, our understanding of how the conversion of mobile sand dunes to Haloxylon ammodendron plantations affects ground arthropod diversity remains limited. This study compared arthropod communities between Haloxylon-planted and non-planted mobile dunes using ANOVA and multivariate analyses. Our results demonstrate that H. ammodendron afforestation significantly altered the community composition and trophic structure of ground arthropods, with these effects exhibiting distinct seasonal variations. At community level, the establishment of H. ammodendron plantations significantly increased arthropod abundance and species richness in May and September. Moreover, diversity indices of ground arthropods showed significant improvement only in September. At trophic group level, omnivores exhibited significant increased abundance and richness in both sampling periods, while predators showed significant increases only in May. At species level, Blaps gobiensis and Anatolica sp. showed positive responded patterns both sampling periods, and an opposite pattern on A. mucronata. Furthermore, Sternotrigon kraatzi and Mantichorula semenowi showed positive responded patterns only in May, and Cataglyphis aenescens showed a positive responded patterns only in September. In addition, several species demonstrated significant habitat indicator values for mobile sandy dunes or H. ammodendron plantations. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that young plantation in mobile sandy dunes induces taxon-specific and seasonally-dependent responses among ground arthropods, ultimately reshaping community structure and functional dynamics in this desert ecosystem.

Key words: mobile sandy dunes, Haloxylon ammodendron plantations, ground arthropod diversity, trophic structure, indicator species

CLC Number: