On suitability for introduction of Chinese rare desert plant Haloxylon ammodendron in semi-arid sandy regions of northwestern China

In order to provide a theoretical basis and technical support for introduction and domestication of the rare desert plant of Haloxylon ammodendron, the principal component analysis and fuzzy clustering were utilized to identify the main climatic factors and partition the suitable regions for species introduction of H. ammodendron. The results indicated that: 1) temperature, air pressure, wind and precipitation were the critical climate factors determined the introduction of H. ammodendron with representing 92.16% of the original information; 2) the most suitable ranges of climatic factors were altitude 265.00-1 349.30 m, longitude 106°42′-120°54′E, latitude 37°37′-44°34′N, annual mean precipitation 142.50-341.92 mm, the minimum temperature -11.57--9.25 ℃, the maximum temperature 28.26-29.39 ℃, mean pressure 86.585-98.335 kPa, mean land surface temperature 8.67-11.83 ℃, mean wind speed 1.58-2.50 m/s, mean air temperature 7.06-9.16 ℃, mean vapor pressure 668-771 Pa, mean relative humidity 47.58%-54.33%, duration of sunshine 2 226.58-2 491.58 hrs, annual mean evaporation 1 509.50-1 650.50 mm; 3) of all selected plots, Taole and Yanchi in Ningxia, Yulin, Jingbian and Shenmu in Shaanxi of northwestern China, and Zhalute in Inner Mongolia of northern China are the most suitable areas for the introduction of H. ammodendron from Ganjiahu National Nature Reserve in Xinjiang of northwestern China in terms of climate factors.