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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (1): 184-198.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00331

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Succession of the herbaceous layer in Haloxylon ammodendron woodland in a desert-oasis ecotone of the Hexi Corridor

Guohua Wang1,2(), Xiaoying Zhang1, Jiaqi Wang1, Changsheng Shen1   

  1. 1.College of Geographical Sciences,Shanxi Normal University,Taiyuan 030000,China
    2.Linze Inland River Basin Research Station,Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
  • Received:2025-11-23 Revised:2025-12-23 Online:2026-01-20 Published:2026-03-09

Abstract:

The Herbaceous layer in artificial forest ecosystems plays a crucial role in maintaining ecological stability and regulating energy and matter cycling in the desert-oasis ecotone. In this study, we investigated succession of herbaceous plant communities and changes in physicochemical properties of soils at depths of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm under artificial Haloxylon ammodendron forests of different ages (0, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 years) in the desert-oasis ecotone of the Hexi Corridor. The results showed that: (1) With increasing forest age, soil electrical conductivity and nutrient contents (organic matter, total nitrogen and total phosphorus) significantly increased in both soil layers, while soil pH remained alkaline (7.78-8.86). Soil moisture content in the 0-10 cm layer first increased and then decreased with increasing forest age, reaching its maximum at 30 years. (2) The dominant herbaceous species shifted from Agriophyllum squarrosum on mobile dunes (0 years) to Bassia dasyphylla and A. squarrosum in the early stage (5-10 years), and to B. dasyphylla in the mid-stage (20-30 years) and Halogeton arachnoideus in the late stage (40 years). The dominant species in early- and mid-successional stages had strong drought tolerance, with soil-moisture ecological thresholds of 0.437%-1.245% for A. squarrosum and 0.153%-1.560% for B. dasyphylla, whereas the late-successional dominant H. arachnoideus displayed high salt tolerance, with an electrical conductivity threshold of 53.003-179.131 μS·cm-1. (3) The diversity of herbaceous layer followed an “initial increase followed by decline” pattern, with Margalef, Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, and Pielou reached to the highest level at 30 years. Soil moisture content and electrical conductivity were key factors influencing the successional processes. These findings provide important reference for the restoration and sustainable development of herbaceous layer under desert artificial forests with annual precipitation around 100 mm.

Key words: desert-oasis ecotone of Hexi Corridor, annual herbaceous layer, dominant species, species diversity, soil water-salt ecological threshold

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