LAUSR

The interaction between plants and the environment, especially the interspecific associations in certain ecosystems, is an important ecological topic. The Kongque River originates from Boston Lake and flows through the east of the Taklamakan Desert; it plays a critical role in supplying water and ecological stability to the South Korla and Lop Nur regions. Owing to climate change, and excessive human exploitation, water availability has become increasingly limited, resulting in severe ecological degradation in the lower reaches of the Kongque River. Therefore, to evaluate the degree of ecological degradation and potential restoration probability in the lower reaches of the Kongque River, this study focused on the interspecific associations of the degraded desert riparian ecosystem by analyzing the groundwater, soil salinity, soil nutrients, and vegetation in 2013. The results showed that: 1) Based on the variation in groundwater depth, soil salinity, soil type, vegetation coverage, species richness, and species diversity, the longitudinal habitats in the lower reaches of the Kongque River could be divided into three types: oasis⁃desert ecotone, intermediate desertification zone, and saliniferous desertification zone. In the oasis⁃desert ecotone, the groundwater depth was soil salinity was low, Populus euphratica was the