It is an important prerequisite to understand the vegetation distribution and its relationship with environmental factors in arid desert regions for the restoration and reconstruction of desert communities in Northwestern China, which will help in planning, managing, and restoring the desert ecosystems in this region. 

However, current studies investigated the relationships between individual environmental factors and plants on a relatively small scale. Research on the combined effects of climate, soil, microtopography, and groundwater on the species composition and vegetation distribution of desert communities using multivariate analysis has not been reported. 

Recently, a research group led by QU Jianjun from Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences investigated desert vegetation distribution and species-environment relationships using multivariate analysis based on the quantitative analysis of plant community and environmental factors in 68 plots at 10 different transects in the Minqin oasis-desert ecotone (ODE) of northwestern China. 

Multivariate analysis on desert vegetation in the Minqin ODE confirms the community types and driving environmental factors on the species distribution patterns. 

The research suggested that optimizing the utilization of groundwater in oases is key to controlling the degradation of desert vegetation. 

Studies indicated that groundwater was the dominant factor influencing vegetation distribution, while distance between plot and oasis and soil electrical conductivity were the local second-order factors. 

Besides, the favorable topographic conditions of sand dunes should be fully utilized for vegetal dune stabilization, and the influence of soil salinity on the selection of afforestation tree species should be considered. 

The main object of this study was to quantify the influence of environmental factors on species composition of sand-fixing plants in the Minqin ODE. 

The results could further be applied for the rehabilitation of desert vegetation in arid and semi-arid regions in northwestern China as well as in other similar regions in the world. 

The study entitled “Desert vegetation distribution and species-environment relationships in an oasis-desert ecotone of northwestern China” was published in Journal of Arid Land. 

Contact: 

QU Jianjun 

E-mail: qujianj@lzb.ac.cn 

Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.