Study on the soil properties of desert grassland in the edge of Jingtai oasis

In order to properly utilize the desert grassland resources, the vegetation characters and soil nutrition (0 to 150 cm) of desert grassland in the edge of Jingtai oasis were studied. The results showed that the desert grassland in Jingtai could be divided into 3 subtypes, including gravelly soil desert grassland, sandy soil desert grassland and salty soil desert grassland. The soil nutrition (organic matter, total N, total P, total K, available P, available K and soil moisture) was poor. Gravelly desert grassland had thin soil profile, poor construction, lower nutrient and water contents. The dominant communities were Reaumuria songarica, Oxytropis aciphylla var. aciphylla + Caragana opulens, Artemisia desertorum and Potaninia mongolica. The vegetation coverage was less than 30%. As for the sandy desert grassland, its soil profile was thin and the nutrient contents were lower than gravelly and salty desert grassland. And its main communities were Nitraria tangutorum and C. opulens + A. desertorum with 17.5% to 32.6% of coverage. Salty desert grassland has deeper soil profile, higher soil moisture and salt contents. The main communities were Kalidium foliatum + Phragmites australis. The coverage was as high as 55% (normally from 30% to 45%) and this type of grassland was used as winterspring pasture.