Plant component and species diversity of Suaeda rigida community in the Tarim Basin

A field survey was conducted to determine the plant community, flora of associate species and species diversity of Suaeda rigida community in the Tarim Basin. The results of this study showed that 26 vascular plant species, belonging to 21 genura and 9 families, were identified, in which plants from Chenopodiaceae accounted for 38.46%. From distribution patterns, the Old World Pattern and its variants was 36% and Central Asian Patterns was 24%. The Margalef, ShannonWinner and Simpson index of S.rigida community was 0.52～0.87, 0.42～1.11 and 0.20～0.66, respectively, and evenness index was 0.34～0.84, and this followed the distribution rule of desert area.