Effects of climate change on plant composition and diversity in the Gurbantunggut Desert of northwestern China

Understanding changes in plant diversity is important with changing climate in desert ecosystems. We analyzed the changes in species richness and plant functional types in different landscape positions and species turnover between five sub-regions of the Gurbantunggut Desert, China, from 2009 to 2013. We also analyzed how species density, richness, and plant functional types responded to annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, and the coefficient of variation (C (v)) of both daily precipitation and monthly temperature, throughout this entire desert region. The results showed significant differences in the Shannon-Weiner, Evenness, and Gleason indices between the sub-regions over the 5-year study period. Species richness varied in the order of ephemeral plants > long-lived annual plants > perennial herbs > shrubs. Species richness in the lower and inter-dune area was higher than on the upper dune and on top of dunes. About 34.8 % of total species were influenced by climate change. The density of about 8.7 % of total species declined with increasing precipitation, especially the two dominant species, Haloxylon persicum and Haloxylon ammodendron. Plant richness increased significantly with increased precipitation. Ephemeral plant made the largest contribution to increasing plant diversity in the desert, while shrubs made the smallest. Ephemeral plants play an important role in maintaining plant community composition and function. In addition, species turnover declined with increasing precipitation. We suggest that differences in flora and different landscape positions in the dunes, specifically in shaping the heterogeneous microhabitats, are important reasons for the complex responses of species to climate change.