Abstract:In order to understand the morphological interactions between Tamarix ramosissima nebkhas and Tamarix ramosissima thickets in the oasis-desert ecotones, 100 independent Tamarix ramosissima nebkhas were randomly selected under different sand supply conditions in the northwest oasis-desert ecotone of Cele at the southern rim of the Taklimakan Desert. According to the difference in vegetation coverage and land surface characteristics, we divided the 100 nebkhas into four categories under four sand supply conditions (i.e. fixed sandy land, semi-fixed sandy land, semi-shifting sandy land and shifting sandy land), corresponding to poor, less poor, rich and richer sand supply conditions respectively. In field, the morphological parameters including the nebkhas' length, width, height, windward slope length and leeward slope length of nebkhas, together with thickets' height, length, width, crown area and different kinds of branch number were investigated. The results indicated that: (1) Increasing sand supply led to the increase of Tamarix ramosissima thickets' length (P=0.03), width (P=0.041), crown area (P=0.032), branch number (P=0.003), new branch rate (P=0.002), rate of basal new branch (P=0.000) and biomass (P=0.001), while the plant height (P=0.929) retained invariable. The average values of these parameters were respectively 6.85 m, 7.23 m, 42.14 m2, 418.0, 49.3%, 45.0% and 65.8 kg in shifting sandy land, which were the largest among the four sandy lands. (2) Tamarix ramosissima nebkhas' height (P=0.000), length (P=0.000), width (P=0.007), underside area (P=0.001), volume (P=0.001) would significantly increase with sand supply enrichment. In shifting sandy land, the above corresponding average values of nebkhas' parameters were respectively 1.83 m, 14.16 m, 7.93 m, 76.64 m2 and 86.33 m3, which were larger than the other lands. The nebkhas figure would develop into a long and narrow with the leeward slope becoming longer than the windward slope and the outline of sand dune tail would also become clearer. At this area most of nebkhas were still at a growing stage. The nebkhas in semi-shifting sandy land had the largest growth space, which's height would be near 4 m. (3) There were good morphological relationships among morphological parameters of Tamarix ramosissima nebkhas, the nebkhas length and width showed a coordinated growth trend with a quadratic polynomial regression equation in shifting sandy land, while a linear relationship in other sandy lands. There was a quadratic polynomial relationship between nebkhas underside area and height, and nebkhas volume increased linearly with the enlargement of underside area. (4) The Tamarix ramosissima thickets and nebkhas also exists good morphological correlation, among which the crown area and nebkhas volume showed a significant liner relationship. The adaptability mechanisms of Tamarix ramosissima nebkhas might be the stimulative function of comparative deep sand-burial as a result of wind accumulate with high-intensity to the growth of Tamarix ramosissima nebkhas and the feedback effect between the thickets and nebkhas. The conclusions indicated that the Tamarix ramosissima nebkhas in this area are the product of land degradation, and the semi-shifting sandy land is in a swift degeneration process now.