In recent years, extreme drought events in arid and semi-arid regions have become more frequent and profoundly affected the desert ecosystem functions. Changes in the content of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in plant leaves can reflect the response and adaptation of plants to water deficit environments, however, the sensitivity and adaptation strategies of desert plant NSC to extreme drought events remain to be further studied. The Junggar Desert is an important part of the desert ecosystems of Central Asia, situated within the temperate arid climate zone, with low precipitation and uneven distribution, which contribute to the relatively simple species composition and sparse vegetation cover in the region. In this study, we conducted a field-controlled experiment in the Anabasis salsa community located at the eastern margin of the Junggar Basin in Xinjiang. The experiment simulated extreme drought events by reduced precipitation by 60% for seven consecutive years. Through this experiment, we analyzed the response patterns and adaptation mechanisms of leaf NSC in dominant plants to drought stress. We determined the content of non-structural carbohydrates in plant leaves by anthrone colourimetry and conducted related experiments to detect relevant factors, including community structure, soil water and nutrient content, to further clarify the pathways of drought stress on NSC in leaves of A. salsa communities. The results show that: (1) The sensitivity of leaf NSC to extreme drought varies among different species in the A. salsa community of the Junggar Desert. Specifically, Reaumuria songarica resisted drought through the hydrolysis of starch into soluble sugars, as evidenced by a significant decrease in both starch and NSC content, and a significant increase in soluble sugars content; Anabasis salsa and Seriphidium borotalensis withstand drought by accumulating soluble sugars and NSC through photosynthesis, showing a significant increase in both soluble sugars and NSC content, and no significant change in starch content; Krascheninnikovia ceratoides chose to use soluble sugars directly for growth, defense, metabolism and other activities to survive the drought period, showing a significant reduction in soluble sugar content and no significant changes in starch and NSC content; (2) Overall, drought stress led to a significant increase in NSC content of leaves at the community level, and the pathways of action of drought stress can be categorized into two ways: firstly, drought directly affected the NSC of leaves in the community, and although the NSC content of some species in the community declined, it would be overshadowed by the positive synergistic effect of increased relative abundance and increased NSC content in other species; secondly, drought indirectly affects the NSC of leaves in the community by affecting crown width. In the Anabasis salsa community, drought stress made the plants as a whole tend to adopt a conservative resource strategy of reducing crown width to reduce NSC pool depletion to conserve the resource, which can ensure the plant's survival under resource stress conditions. The strategy is manifested by a decrease in crown width and an increase in leaf NSC content at the community level. This study provides data support for understanding carbon adaptation strategies in desert ecosystems in the context of precipitation changes.