Effect of short-term grazing exclusion on community characteristics and stability in Artemisia desert on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains

The aim of this study was to explore the response of community characteristics and plant diversity, in deserts in different regions, to grazing exclusion (GE), and to analyze the effects of GE on community stability. The research was carried out in the Artemisia desert on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains, where the community characteristics were measured and studied. The results showed that 1) GE altered the functional group structure of the desert community in different regions and that community coverage and biomass after GE increased significantly by 40.2%57.0% and 44.4%81.0%; 2) the response of the desert plant diversity indexes to short-term GE were weak, however, the Patrick and Shannon-Wiener indexes of the grazed area in the Manasi desert were significantly higher by 16.720.0% than in Qitai and Bole, and the Simpson and Shannon-Wiener indexes of the GE area were significantly higher by 8.6%17.7%; 3) short-term GE can maintain the stability of desert communities, and the stability is related to GE times and ecological factors. Therefore, short-term GE can significantly improve desert grassland productivity, and maintain vegetation diversity and community stability.