Plot data of typical desert vegetation in Zanda, Xizang, China

The Xiangquan River valley of Zanda in the western Ngari Prefecture is one of the main distribution areas of the mountainous desert on the Qingzang Plateau, but there is a lack of data on the background of desert vegetation in this area. Based on the field survey of 42 desert plots in Zanda County, Nagri, Xizang from 2018–2023, this study analyzed the classification and community characteristics of desert vegetation in the Xiangquan River basin. The results showed that there were 8 desert alliances in Zanda County, Xizang, including two temperate shrub deserts: Caragana versicolor desert and Ephedra intermedia desert, and six temperate semi-shrub and herbaceous deserts, Ajania fruticulosa desert, Ephedra gerardiana desert, Krascheninnikovia ceratoides desert, Krascheninnikovia eversmanniana desert, Lactuca orientalis desert and Seriphidium thomsonianum desert. Notably, five desert alliances (C. versicolor, E. gerardiana, K. eversmanniana, L. orientalis, and S. thomsonianum deserts) are newly recorded desert types. A total of 82 species of vascular plants belonging to 51 genera and 20 families were recorded. Among them, the life forms were mainly hemicryptophytes and perennial forbs. The water ecological type were mostly hyperxerophytic and typical xerophytes, including most of the edificators and companions of desert vegetation, such as Ajania fruticulosa, Ephedra intermedia, Krascheninnikovia ceratoides, Lactuca orientalis, and Krascheninnikovia eversmanniana. The Central Asia-Middle Asia component is the most important component of the geographical floristic type, followed by the Qingzang Plateau and the Eastern Paleoarctic. This study provides basic data and information for understanding the status and distribution of desert vegetation resources in this region, and for classifying the desert vegetation types in the Qingzang Plateau for better regional biodiversity conservation.