LAUSR

Quantifying the biomass–density (M–N) exponent and size inequality in plant communities has become a long-standing issue in both theoretical and empirical studies. The biomass–density (M–N) exponent and size inequality of the tree populations have not been studied so widely as that of herbaceous plants. we studied the variation of biomass–density (M–N) exponent and size inequality at different stages of development clusters along erosion gradient in Haloxylon ammodendron populations. The results showed that the value of the M-N exponent ranged from 1.21 to 1.73 in sapling stages, -0.691 to 0.437 in Adult stages and -0.934 to -0.812 in senescence phase along a erosion gradient, the M-N exponents at different stages of development showed an downward trend, and indicated that when the density of the cluster increases, which is a process of self-thinning. Moreover, the populations size inequality in different locations decreased with the increase of wind erosion intensity. The size inequality also showed a downward trend in various stages of development, that of the first two stages of development were significantly greater than the later development stages. Our study showed that interactions among individuals at different stages of development have an important impact on the population structure.