Responses of typical C3 and C4 desert shrubs to simulated warming in Hexi Corridor

doi:10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00111

Journal of Desert Research ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (3): 120-130.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00111

Responses of typical C₃ and C₄ desert shrubs to simulated warming in Hexi Corridor

Weicheng Luo¹(), Wenzhi Zhao¹(), Heng Ren¹, Bin Guo², Ning An¹^,³, Bing Liu¹, Jiayi Liu¹^,³

^1.Linze Inland River Basin Research Station / Key Laboratory of State Forestry and Grassland Administration on“Mountain-River-Forest-Farmland-Lake-Grassland-Desert System Governance / 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.College of Forestry，Gansu Agricultural University，Lanzhou 730070，China
^3.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences，Beijing 100049，China

Received:2025-04-08 Revised:2025-05-06 Online:2026-05-20 Published:2026-06-11
Contact: Wenzhi Zhao

Abstract

Abstract:

Global warming has brought great impact on desert ecosystems， and also brought new challenges to the establishment and management of desert sand-fixation vegetation. This study investigated the effects of varying degrees of warming on the photosynthetic physiology and stoichiometric element content of two typical desert sand-fixing plants—Nitraria sphaerocarpa （a C₃ plant） and Haloxylon ammodendron （a C₄ plant）—using Open-top chambers （OTCs） as warming simulation devices. The results showed that：（1） The photosynthetic responses of the two plants to warming differed significantly. Under different warming magnitudes （ΔT）， N. sphaerocarpa exhibited significantly lower net photosynthetic rate （P_n） and water use efficiency （WUE） than H. ammodendron. The P_n of N. sphaerocarpa showed a linear relationship with ΔT， while that of H. ammodendron followed a quadratic relationship. The WUE of N. sphaerocarpa increased with ΔT， whereas that of H. ammodendron first decreased and then increased. （2） Warming also significantly affected the leaf C， N， and P contents of two plants. The C， N， and P contents of both species increased with ΔT， but N. sphaerocarpa had higher levels than H. ammodendron. （3） ΔT was positively correlated with the photosynthetic parameters of N. sphaerocarpa but negatively correlated with its leaf C， N， and P contents. In contrast， ΔT was positively correlated with the P_n of H. ammodendron but negatively correlated with its WUE， while showing a positive correlation with its leaf C and P contents. These findings indicate that both desert plants exhibit strong adaptability to warming through different strategies： The C₃ plant N. sphaerocarpa adopts a "high storage-high defense" strategy by increasing leaf C， N， and P contents to enhance photosynthetic capacity under thermal stress. The C₄ plant H. ammodendron employs a "fast growth-efficient utilization" strategy by accelerating growth through increased consumption of C， N， and P. In summary， the responses of photosynthetic traits and leaf stoichiometric element contents to warming were markedly different between the C₃ plant N. sphaerocarpa and the C₄ plant H. ammodendron. These results provide important insights into how climate change regulates the growth and development of desert plants and provides scientific support for the stability maintenance and scientific management of artificial sand-fixing vegetation in arid desert areas.

Key words: C₃ plant, Nitraria sphaerocarpa, C₄ plant, Haloxylon ammodendron, simulated warming, photosynthetic traits, stoichiometric element content

CLC Number:

Q948

Weicheng Luo, Wenzhi Zhao, Heng Ren, Bin Guo, Ning An, Bing Liu, Jiayi Liu. Responses of typical C₃ and C₄ desert shrubs to simulated warming in Hexi Corridor[J]. Journal of Desert Research, 2026, 46(3): 120-130.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig.1 Location of study area and Open-top chambers

Fig.2 Changes of air temperature， humidity and soil temperature under different warming treatments during growth seasons （April to September）

Fig.3 Changes of photosynthetic indices of C3 plant N. sphaerocarpa and C4 plant H. ammodendron under different warming ranges （*， ** and ns indicated that the indices of C3 plant and C4 plant were significantly different （P<0.05）， extremely significant （P<0.01） and had no difference （P≥0.05） under the same warming range， respectively）

Fig.4 Changes of leaf stoichiometric element contents of C3 plant N. sphaerocarpa and C4 plant H. ammodendron under different warming ranges

Table 1 Two-way ANOVA analysis of the effects of species and warming range on plant photosynthetic indexes

	P_n		G_s		C_i		Tr		WUE
	F	P	F	P	F	P	F	P	F	P
物种S	991.66	<0.01	19.32	<0.01	691.15	<0.01	97.12	<0.01	50.65	<0.01
增温幅度ΔT	74.28	<0.01	148.92	<0.01	81.09	<0.01	132.00	<0.01	11.18	<0.01
S×ΔT	56.83	<0.01	14.64	<0.01	1.47	0.26	82.49	<0.01	29.21	<0.01

Table 2 Two-way ANOVA analysis of the effects of species and warming range on leaf stoichiometric element contents

	C		N		P		C∶N		C∶P		N∶P
	F	P	F	P	F	P	F	P	F	P	F	P
物种S	121.00	<0.01	9.31	<0.01	51.20	<0.01	5.33	0.04	6.70	0.20	26.03	<0.01
增温幅度ΔT	6.49	<0.01	2.08	0.14	1.31	0.30	0.80	0.51	1.63	0.22	3.16	0.05
S×ΔT	0.23	0.87	0.94	0.44	1.40	0.28	1.59	0.23	1.54	0.24	2.06	0.15

Fig.5 Correlation between photosynthetic indexes， leaf stoichiometric elements content and warming ranges of C3 plant Nitraria sphaerocarpa and C4 plant Haloxylon ammodendron

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Responses of typical C₃ and C₄ desert shrubs to simulated warming in Hexi Corridor

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