Effects of Sand-Stabilization on Plant Abundance of Interdune Lowlands in the Active Sand Dune Fields

Abstract

Sand-stabilization may exert enormous effects on plant abundance in interdune lowlands in the active sand dune fields. We investigated the plant abundance of 11 interdune lowlands in stabilized and active dunes, respectively, and analyzed the relationship of plant abundance and lowland area. 1) With the enlargement of lowland area, plant abundance of interdune lowlands in stabilized and active dune increased following logarithmic and power functions, respectively. When the area was the same, abundance of stabilized dunes was more than that of active dunes. 2) With the increasing of lowland area in stabilized and active dunes, psammophytes plant abundance relative to the overall plant abundance decreased exponentially. When the area was the same, the percentage in lowlands of active dunes was more than that of stabilized dunes. We concluded that the practice of sand-stabilization could improve plant abundance in interdune lowlands, however, which is at the cost of loss of psammophytes.