Arid Zone Research ›› 2016, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (5): 1003-1011.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2016.05.13

• Biological Resources • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatial Distribution of Nitraria tangutorum Communities and Its Environmental Interpretations in the Minqin Oasis-desert Ecotone

ZHAO Peng1,2, XU Xian-ying1, QU Jian-jun2, YU Qiu-shi1, ZHANG Jin-hu1, MA Jun-mei1, SUN Tao1, WU Yong-mei3   

  1. 1. Breeding Base of State Key Laboratory of Desertification and Aeolian Sand Disaster Combating,Gansu Institute of Desert Control Research,Lanzhou 730070,Gansu,China;
    2. Dunhuang Gobi and Desert Research Station,Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineer Research Institute,Chinese academy of sciences,Dunhuang 736200,Gansu,China;
    3. Forestry station of Huayuan Township,Barkol Kazak Autonomous County,Hami 839200,Xinjiang,China
  • Received:2015-01-09 Revised:2015-05-13 Online:2016-09-15 Published:2025-12-01

Abstract: Based on the survey of plant and environmental factors,the methods of TWINSPAN and RDA were applied to research the relationships between the spatial distribution of Nitraria tangutorum communities and environmental factors in the Minqin oasis-desert ecotone. The results showed that the species composition of N.tangutorum communities was simple. There were only 17 plant species in 17 genera and 8 families obtained from 31 samples. The two-way indicator analysis (TWINSPAN) was used to classify the N.tangutorum communities into 4 types: Ass.Nitraria tangutorum-Artemisia.arenaria+Agriophyllum squarrosum,Ass.Nitraria tangutorum+Reaumuria soongarica-Eragrostis pilosa,Ass.Nitraria tangutorum+Phragmites australis-Salsola collina,and Ass.Nitraria tangutorum+Lycium ruthenicum-Halogeton glomeratus. The composition variation of N.tangutorum communities was resulted in by the difference of environmental factors. The classified results of TWINSPAN were reflected clearly in the RDA two-dimensional ordination diagram for samples and environmental variables. The first axis of RDA two-dimensional ordination showed the moisture gradient dominated by groundwater depth. The second one reflected the gradient of sand sources and soil texture in response to the distance between samples and oasis. The tested results of Monte Carlo permutation of the selected environmental factor revealed that the effects of groundwater depth and distance between oasis and samples on the spatial distribution of N.tangutorum communities were significant.

Key words: oasis-desert ecotone, Nitraria tangutorum community, TWINSPAN, RDA, Minqin