Nitraria tangutorum occupy the largest area among all natural vegetation in the lower reaches of the Shiyang River.The plant is tolerant to high-temperature, drought, salts, wind-erosion and sand burial, so it has been highly regarded as a sand fixation plant.The formation and development of N. tangutorum nebkhas is also the result of interaction between vegetation and environment in the process of community succession.The research on the structure and quantitative characteristics of N. tangutorum communities in different succession stages can provide a scientific basis for its conservation and restoration. Based on growth and habitats, N.tangutorum communities at different succession stages: early development, stable equilibrium, deterioration, and serious deterioration, were selected to look into species composition, life form spectrum, coverage, species diversity and community similarities. The results demonstrated that the species composition of the plant community was relatively simple. There were 29 plant species, belonging to 25 genuses and 11 families. Zygophyllaceae and Chenopodiaceae showed up in all succession processes. Gramineae dominated the early development stage, whereas Chenopodiaceae was predominant in the stable equilibrium. At the deterioration stage, species of Zygophyllaceae were prevailing after N. tangutorum community came to deterioration. Chenopodiaceae was dominant again when the succession was at the serious deterioration phase. The number of species abated significantly from the early development to the stage of stability, whereas that increased gradually from the stable equilibrium to deterioration and serious deterioration. Throughout the succession process, the proportion of annuals was increasing by degrees, from about 26% at the early development to 80% at the serious deterioration stage. So, the degradation succession of desert plants was a course of gradual increase of annual plants. The proportion of phaenerophyte was gradually increasing from the early development to the deterioration stage, and decreasing at the stage of serious deterioration. Chamaephytes had larger quantities at the early development stage, were decreasing at the stable equilibrium stage, and disappeared at the deterioration stage. Hemicryptophyte were prevailing at the early development stage, decreasing at the stable equilibrium phase, and disappeared at the deterioration period, even only 1 species of hemicryptophyte existing at the serious deterioration phase. There was no cryptophytes in all succession processes. The annual variations of community coverage at different succession stages were various and the maximum and minimum values of the community coverage at different succession stages occurred in various months. The mean community covering rates in May to October was in the order stable equilibrium, early development, deterioration, serious deterioration. With respect to community diversity at different stages, the Simpson index, the Shannon-Weiner index, and the Pielou evenness index showed fluctuation. The Simpson and Shannon-Wiener indexes rank the stages in the order of early development, severe decline, decline, and stability. Meanwhile, the pielou index ranked as follows: recession, serious recession, stability, and early development. The species composition of N. tangutorum communities in different succession stages was various with a level of similarities. Coefficients of similarity between communities at the stages of deterioration and serious deterioration were lightly similar, and those between other communities were dissimilar. The closer the successional series, the higher the similarity coefficients.