Water is the key factor in desert ecosystem, which affects population regeneration, community structure and ecosystem functions. Field survey, stable isotope technology and control experiment were applied to examine the effects of water on vegetation distribution, seed germination and plant biodiversity.
Vegetation distribution is mainly driven by precipitation in arid zone, such as steppe, sandy land and desert steppe on Ordos Plateau, which distributes from east to west with the decrease of annual precipitation. Vegetation restoration.
Most seed germinates after rainfall or snow melt in spring or early summer, e.g. Haloxylon ammdendron in four deserts and Leymus secalinus in Mu Us Sandy Land. Other factors also restrict seed germination, including temperature and sand burial.
Some desert shrubs have resource-dependent water use strategy to adapt to arid climate, e.g. Ammopiptanthus mongolicus in Ulan Buh Desert, and Haloxylon ammodendron in Badain Jaran Desert. They used soil water in different depths or ground water based on their availability.
Thereis acompetition for deep soil water and ground water among different shrubs in desert community during drought, e.g.A. mongolilcus, Artemisia xerophytica and Artemisia ordosica.
Afforestation technology in Harsh habitats of Hexi Corridor and Taklimakan Desert, 2023-2025
Vegetation survey in Gobi Desert on Mongolian Plateau, 2023-2026
Biodiversity maintenance mechanism of Ammopiptanthus mongolicus community, 2021-2024
Desert plant biodiversity survey on Mongolian Plateau, 2020-2023
Formation mechanism of vegetation stability in Pisha Rock area, 2017-2021
Plant community maintenance mechanism in Ulan Buh Desert, 2017-2019
Water use process of plantation in desertified land on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, 2014-2016
Demonstration and promotion of optimization of plantation configuration in desert oasis ecotone, 2014-2016
Zhu Y*, Jia Z*, Wang G, Ning H, Ji X, Luo Q. 2023. Response of seed germination and seedling emergence of Haloxylon ammodendron to rain frequency and temperature change from four desert ecosystems, northwest China. AoB Plants, doi.org/10.1093./aobpla/plac048/6961122.
Song ZB, Xin ZM, Zhu YJ*. 2022.Characteristics of shrub communities in the desert-steppeecotone of Inner Mongolia,China. Journal of Desert Research, 42(2): 104-112. (in Chinese with English abstract)
Song ZB, Xin ZM, Zhu YJ*. 2022. Desert plant resources and its characteristics in Alxa Plateau. Bulletin of Soil and Water Conservation, 42(5): 49-56. (in Chinese with English abstract)
Zhu Y*, Wang G, Xin Z. 2020. Water use strategy of Ammopiptanthus mongolicus community on the Mongolian Plateau. Journal of Plant Ecology, doi.org/10.1093./jpe/rtaa064.
Zhu Y*, Wang G. 2020. Rainwater use process of Caragana intermedia in semi-arid zone, Tibetan Plateau. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8: 231.
Zhu YJ, Cui QG, Du J, Xu SH, Liu L. 2020. Water use of three shrub communities in Mu Us Sandy Land. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 40(13): 4470-4478. (in Chinese with English abstract)
Zhu YJ, Ye XH, Chu Y, Gao SQ, Dong M. 2020. Effects of precipitation on clonal plant distribution on Ordos Plateau. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 40(3): 952-963. (in Chinese with English abstract)
Xu SH, Zhu YJ, Wu CX, Li Y. 2020. Water utilization strategy of three soil and water conservation trees on Ordos Plateau, China. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 31(9): 2885-2892. (in Chinese with English abstract)
Zhu Y*, Wang G, Li R*. 2016. Seasonal dynamics of water use strategy of two Salix shrubs in alpine sandy land, Tibetan Plateau. PLoS ONE, 11(5): e0156586.
Zhu YJ, Yang XJ, Baskin CC, Baskin JM, Dong M, Huang ZY. 2014. Effects of amount and frequency of precipitation and sand burial on seed germination, seedling emergence and survival of the dune grass Leymus secalinus in semiarid China. Plant and Soil, 374: 399–409.
