Tamarisk Growth Form on Nebkha’s Development, Shape and Soil Nutrient Enrichment in Northern Taklamakan Desert, China

Tamarisk Growth Form on Nebkha’s Development, Shape and Soil Nutrient Enrichment in Northern Taklamakan Desert, China.

To clarify the modification by a shrub to the nebkha, the influence of tamarisk shrubs (Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb.) growth form on nebkha’s development, shape and soil nutrients enrichment were studied in 1) a saline meadow, 2) a shrubland and 3) the edge of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China. Data showed that tamarisk nebkhas exhibited a reverse tendency in developed pattern and the shape sphericity to that of shrub canopies above them in saline meadow, but displayed a similar pattern and different shape to that of tamarisk in shrubanland, a similar pattern and shape to that of tamarisk in sandy desert. Our results also illustrated that the growth form of tamarisk such as the spreading of the shrub canopy can determine the size of nebkhas underlying especially in environment with lower plant cover, but unable to completely control its developed pattern and shape sphericity. Furthermore, the results of this study also showed that the modification effects of tamarisk canopy growth form on the shape, develop pattern of nebkha underlying and soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (STN) enrichment in it is limited by the depth to the groundwater.