The main purpose of this study was to determine leaf ecological stoichiometric characteristics and seasonal variation pattern of trees, shrubs and herbaceous in desert ecosystem. The dynamic balance and differences in ecological stoichiometric characteristics in different life forms during their growth season were elucidated. The results from this study will be helpful in supplying theoretical basis for desert ecosystem protection and management. In this study, 8 species of plants with different life forms were selected from the oasis-desert transition zone in the southern margin of the Tarim Basin, and their leaves were collected continuously from April to September in the growing season to analyze the changes of C, N, and P contents and their econometrical ratios in the leaves during the whole growing season. The results showed that: 1) On the whole, the seasonal variation of C content in leaves of 8 species was not significant. The contents of N and P were the highest in the early growth period and then gradually decreased, which reflected the obvious dilution effect. However, the changes of C ∶ N, C ∶ P and N ∶ P in leaves of the 8 species were inconsistent in the whole growing season. 2) We comprehensively analyzed the variation of C, N, P and their econometric ratios of 8 plant leaves in the whole growing season. The coefficient of variation was ranked from large to small as follows: P (32.39%)>C ∶ P (25.67%)>N (20.96%)>N ∶ P (20.42%)>C ∶ N (19.83%)>C (6.49%). 3) The variation of C content in plant leaves was mainly affected by species and life form, and the variation of N and P content and C ∶ N and C ∶ P were most affected by species and growing season, while the variation of N ∶ P was more affected by the interaction between growing season and species than by growing season. 4) There was a significantly positive correlation between N and P contents in leaves of 8 species (P < 0.001). There was a significantly negative correlation between P content and N ∶ P (P < 0.001), but no significant correlation between N content and N ∶ P (P > 0.05). In the oasis-desert transition zone, the contents of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus and their stoichiometric ratios in leaves of the 8 plants varied from species to species during the growing season, and their coefficient of variation in the growing season was also different among species, and plant growth was more likely to be restricted by N element.