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Arid Land Geography ›› 2020, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (6): 1514-1522.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2020.06.12

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Gobi shrub species diversity and its distribution pattern in west Hexi Corridor

DONG Xue1,5, LI Yong-hua2,3,4, XIN Zhi-ming1,5, DUAN Rui-bing1,5, YAO Bin2, BAO Yan-feng2, HUANG Ya-ru1,5, ZHANG Zheng-guo2   

  1. 1 Experimental Center of Desert Forestry, CAF, Dengkou, 015200, Inner Mongolia, China; 2 Institute of Desertification Studies, CAF, Beijing 100091, China; 3 National Forestry Bureaus Kumtage Desert Ecosystem Location Research Station, Dunhuang 736200, Gansu, China; 4 State Forestry Administration Dunhuang Desert Ecosystem Location Research Station, Dunhuang 736200, Gansu, China; 5 State Forestry Administration Dengkou Desert Ecosystem Location Research Station, Dengkou 015200, Inner Mongolia, China
  • Received:2019-08-05 Revised:2020-05-20 Online:2020-11-25 Published:2020-11-25

Abstract: To elucidate the plant diversity of typical shrub communities species diversity in west of Hexi Corridor, Gansu Province, China, spatial distribution pattern of species diversity and its relationship with geographical factors were discussed in this paper via field sample survey. It is important for maintaining, self-improvement, scientific conservation, and managing the diversity of the gobi shrub communities. Results showed that: (1) Simpson index, Shannon-Wiener index, richness Margalef index, and evenness Pielou index of eight desert gobi shrub communities are calculated and compared. The order is Kalidium foliatum community>Ephedra przewalskii community> Sympegma regelii community>Reaumuria songarica community>Haloxylon ammodendron community>Nitraria sphaerocarpa community> Tamarix ramosissima community>Calligonum mongolicum community. The Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, Margalef, and Pielou fluctuation range of the indexes were 0.314-1.355, 0.179-0.666, 0.334-1.222, and 0.051-0.218. The species diversity indexes of gobi desert shrub communities were observed to be low. The structure and composition of the shrub communities were simple and rare. (2) More species in the community results in higher Jaccard similarity coefficient between communities. The Jaccard similarity between most shrub community types ranges from 0.20 to 0.60. Most Jaccard similarity levels between communities were low and the communities were relatively stable. (3) For the species diversity such as Margalef and Pielou, the Shannon-Wiener index showed an increasing and then decreasing trend, similar to the Unimodal pattern, where the maximum occurred at 2000 m of the elevational gradient. The correlation between species diversity and altitude were significant (P<0.05). The species density had a significant increasing trend from south to north (P<0.05), while it had a non-significant increasing trend from east to west (P>0.05). On the community scale, the species diversity of gobi desert shrub communities showed obvious vertical (altitude) and latitude zonal distribution pattern.

Key words: gobi desert , shrub communities, species diversity, geographical distribution