Based on systematically monitoring plants on dune ridges in the southern part of the Gurbantunggut Desert in 2002, this paper, from the angle of dune stabilization by vegetation, describes ...Based on systematically monitoring plants on dune ridges in the southern part of the Gurbantunggut Desert in 2002, this paper, from the angle of dune stabilization by vegetation, describes the temporal and spatial distribution patterns of ephemeral plants on isolated sand dunes, analyses the natural invasion processes of ephemeral plants on human-disturbed sand surface and expounds the importance of ephemeral plants in stabilizing sand dune surface. A total of 45 plant species were identified in the study area, 29 of which are ephemeral plants. Ephemeral plants sprouted in early April and completed their life-circle within about two months. Just as aeolian sand activities came to the strongest stage from April to June in desert regions of northern Xinjiang, the total coverage of trees, shrubs and herbs of long vegetational period on most dune ridges was less than 10%, while the mean coverage of ephemeral plants reached 13.9% in April, 40.2% in May and 14.1% in June. Therefore ephemeral plants acted as the major contributor to dune surface stabilization in the Gurbantunggut Desert. Investigations of vegetation restoration on engineering-disturbed dune surface show that ephemeral plants first recolonized the disturbed dune surface.展开更多
基金The National Key Project for Basic Research No. G1999043504National Natural Science Foundation of China+3 种基金 No.90202019 The "Light of West China" Project for Talent Training CAS No. 20032057
文摘Based on systematically monitoring plants on dune ridges in the southern part of the Gurbantunggut Desert in 2002, this paper, from the angle of dune stabilization by vegetation, describes the temporal and spatial distribution patterns of ephemeral plants on isolated sand dunes, analyses the natural invasion processes of ephemeral plants on human-disturbed sand surface and expounds the importance of ephemeral plants in stabilizing sand dune surface. A total of 45 plant species were identified in the study area, 29 of which are ephemeral plants. Ephemeral plants sprouted in early April and completed their life-circle within about two months. Just as aeolian sand activities came to the strongest stage from April to June in desert regions of northern Xinjiang, the total coverage of trees, shrubs and herbs of long vegetational period on most dune ridges was less than 10%, while the mean coverage of ephemeral plants reached 13.9% in April, 40.2% in May and 14.1% in June. Therefore ephemeral plants acted as the major contributor to dune surface stabilization in the Gurbantunggut Desert. Investigations of vegetation restoration on engineering-disturbed dune surface show that ephemeral plants first recolonized the disturbed dune surface.
