Seed germination and seedling growth of five desert plants and their relevance to vegetation restoration.

Due to significant decreases in precipitation in northern China, knowledge of the response of seed germination and plant growth characteristics to key limiting factors is essential for vegetation restoration. We examined seed germination under different temperatures and water potentials, and we examined seedling growth under different amounts of water supply. Experiments were carried out in automatic temperature-, humidity-, and light-controlled growth chambers. Under low water potentials, the final germination percentages of four herbaceous species were high, while seed germination of the shrub species was significantly inhibited. Under the different water supply amounts, seedlings of allocated more biomass to the root and had a higher growth rate than those of and . In light of these results and drier environmental conditions (annual mean precipitation is 366 mm, which falling mainly between June and August), potential selections for revegetation of different landscapes include the following: for shifting sand dunes, the establishment of the pioneer species , for semifixed sand dunes, for fixed sand dunes, and and for cultivation.