Comparative research on habitat of main plant community in desert grassland in Minqin

The study selected 4 kinds of main eremophytes communities in Minqin and conducted comparative research in terms of habitat and niche. The results indicated that 1)differences of soil composition mainly demonstrated in 0.05 mm soil particle of 4 kinds of communities such as Artemisia arenaria, Nitraria tangutorum, Ephedra przewalskii and Haloxylon ammodendron. 0.251.00 mm coarse sand were rich in A. arenaria and E. przewalskii communities, 1.0 mm gravel was dominant in E. przewalskii soil, 0.05～0.25 mm fine sand were the most in N. tangutorum soil. Total Nitrogen content was higher in H. ammodendron than other 3 communities. 2) The niche breadth of the dominant species was the biggest in the community, the niche breadth of H. ammodendron was the biggest, followed by E. przewalskii, N. tangutorum had the smallest. 3) The habitat conditions of A. arenaria and A. squarrosum and Calligonum ongolicum were approximately the same, Bassia dasyphylla, Agriophyllum squarrosum, Halogeton arachnoideus and N. tangutorum had similar habitat, and the habitat conditions were close in N. sphaerocarpa and E. przewalskii.