Is salinity the main ecological factor that influences foliar nutrient resorption of desert plants in a hyper-arid environment?

Table 1 Soil properties and vegetation characteristics of the saline habitats (SH) and the gravel desert habitats (GDH) in the study area

	Properties	SH (n = 11)			GDH (n = 5)			Difference between SH and GDH
	Properties	0–20 cm	20–40 cm	40–60 cm	0–20 cm	20–40 cm	40–60 cm	0–20 cm	20–40 cm	40–60 cm
Soil properties	pH	8.56 ± 0.05A	8.50 ± 0.06A	8.49 ± 0.06A	7.98 ± 0.06a	7.87 ± 0.03a	7.87 ± 0.04a	**	**	**
	WC (%)	15.3 ± 1.76A	18.5 ± 1.67A	16.6 ± 1.97A	2.31 ± 0.85a	2.49 ± 0.51a	2.87 ± 0.65a	**	**	**
	EC (ds m-1)	28.1 ± 4.12A	9.32 ± 1.65B	4.00 ± .052C	0.38 ± 0.17a	0.28 ± 0.13a	0.21 ± 0.06a	**	**	**
	TN (mg g⁻¹)	0.74 ± 0.10A	0.68 ± 0.13A	0.53 ± 0.08A	0.25 ± 0.03a	0.22 ± 0.01a	0.22 ± 0.02a	**	*	*
	TP (mg g⁻¹)	0.61 ± 0.05A	0.68 ± 0.05A	0.65 ± 0.04A	0.74 ± 0.04a	0.70 ± 0.06a	0.68 ± 0.05a	NS.	NS.	NS.
	AN (mg Kg⁻¹)	12.1 ± 2.43A	10.3 ± 2.54A	14.8 ± 3.10A	17.3 ± 4.36a	15.4 ± 2.30a	13.2 ± 1.68a	NS.	NS.	NS.
	AP (mg Kg⁻¹)	13.9 ± 3.84A	11.3 ± 2.33A	11.8 ± 3.50A	17.1 ± 3.18a	15.3 ± 5.16a	12.7 ± 2.73a	NS.	NS.	NS.
Vegetation characteristics	Coverage (%)	34.8 ± 4.67			13.9 ± 2.39			*
	Density (individual m⁻²)	12.8 ± 4.14			0.61 ± 0.15			*
	Richness (100 m⁻²)	7.63 ± 4.23			3.68 ± 0.45			*

Different uppercase and lowercase letters indicate significant differences at p < 0.05 level (analyzed by one-way ANOVA) in soil properties at different depth in SH and GDH, respectively
WC soil water content, EC soil electric conductivity, TN, TP total soil nitrogen and phosphorus content, AN, AP plant-available nitrogen and phosphorus content
* and ** indicate significant differences at p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 level respectively (analyzed by independent sample t-test) in vegetation characteristics and soil properties at the same depth between SH and GDH respectively, NS represent non-significant difference

ISSN: 1471-2229