# Endemic shrubs in temperate arid and semiarid regions of northern China and their potentials for rangeland restoration

## TL;DR

This paper studies shrubs in northern China's arid regions and suggests using them to restore degraded rangelands.

## Contribution

The study identifies specific shrub species and their habitat preferences for use in rangeland restoration.

## Key findings

- Amygdalus pedunculata thrives in semiarid low hills and sandy land with high vegetation diversity.
- Ammopiptanthus mongolicus is suited to arid sandy land with low diversity but high shrub ratios.
- These shrubs can act as nurse plants to aid in rangeland recovery and desertification control.

## Abstract

The shrubs Amygdalus pedunculata, Amygdalus mongolica and Ammopiptanthus mongolicus are endemic species in temperate northern China. They have developed adaptations to characteristic arid and semiarid ecosystems. A. pedunculata prefers low hills and sandy land in semiarid regions. A. mongolica prefers gravel deserts in semiarid regions. A. mongolicus prefers sandy land in arid regions. They play critical roles in maintaining or restoring these ecosystems. However, they are in danger of extinction. As part of a general conservation effort, they can be used as nurse plants to facilitate vegetation establishment in the engineering of rangeland restoration.

Some endemic shrubs in arid and semiarid ecosystems are in danger of extinction, and yet they can play useful roles in maintaining or restoring these ecosystems, thus practical efforts are needed to conserve them. The shrubs Amygdalus pedunculata Pall., Amygdalus mongolica (Maxim.) Ricker and Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Maxim. ex Kom.) Cheng f. are endemic species in arid and semiarid regions of northern China, where rangeland desertification is pronounced due to chronic overgrazing. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that these endemic shrubs have developed adaptations to arid and semiarid environments and could play critical roles as nurse species to initiate the process of rangeland recovery. Based on careful vegetation surveys, we analysed the niches of these species in relation to precipitation, temperature and habitats. All sampling plots were categorized by these endemics and sorted by the non-metric multidimensional scaling method. Species ratios of each life form and species co-occurrence rates with the endemics were also evaluated. Annual average temperature and annual precipitation were found to be the key factors determining vegetation diversity and distributions. Amygdalus pedunculata prefers low hills and sandy land in temperate semiarid regions. Amygdalus mongolica prefers gravel deserts of temperate semiarid regions. Ammopiptanthus mongolicus prefers sandy land of temperate arid regions. Communities of A. pedunculata have the highest diversity and the largest ratios of long-lived grass species, whereas those of A. mongolicus have the lowest diversity but the largest ratios of shrub species. Communities of A. mongolica are a transition between the first two community types. These findings demonstrate that our focal endemic shrubs have evolved adaptations to arid and semiarid conditions, thus they can be nurse plants to stabilize sand ground for vegetation restoration. We suggest that land managers begin using these shrub species to restore degraded rangelands as part of a general conservation effort.