Responses of Plants' Phenology to Climate Warming in the Desert Area in Northwestern China

With climate warming, plants’ spring phenology has advanced while autumn phenology has delayed. How does the phenology of desert plants respond to climatic variation? To reveal it, this study analyzed the phenological data of 22 desert species growing in the Minqin Desert Plants Botanical Garden located in the typical desert area in northwest China. The data was observed during the year 1974-2009. Results revealed that comparing with the literatures available, the temperature in the study area since 1974 rose more significantly and plants’ growing periods were longer. Both the advance of arbor’s spring phenology and the delay of herb’s autumn phenology were obviously greater than that reported in available literature. The starting date of spring phenolgy advanced markedly. From 1974 to 2009, the starting date of spring phenology, the ending date of autumn phenology and plants’ growing duration experienced 6 stages. The phenological changes in different stages were closely related to temperature variation.