The ecological characteristics of the riparian vegetation affected by river overflowing disturbance in the lower Tarim River

Based on data obtained from field investigations, this paper aims to analyze the influence of the river overflow on the desert riparian vegetation and discuss the function of the river overflow on the vegetation restoration at the lower Tarim River. The results show that (1) there are only 17 species, 13 genera and 9 families in the study areas before river overflow, while there are 34 species, 26 genera and 12 families after the overflowing in which 18 species emerged newly; (2) judging by the biodiversity indices, the species diversity and species richness in the river overflowed area increase more significantly than those in the un-overflow area; (3) judging by the importance of different species after years of river overflowing, the annual herbs germinate quickly at first, while the perennial herbs with deep roots or root clones become dominant in the plant community; (4) after several times of river overflowing, some arbors and shrubs such as Populus euphratica and Tamarix ramosissima germinate easily and can dominate gradually in the plant community. The results indicate that the river overflowing restores the severely degraded ecosystem in the lower Tarim River and the function is connected with restoration of eco-hydrological processes in the study areas. The results suggest that experimental overflowing has initiated a process of restoring ecosystem function within the riparian forest.