Environmental stress gradients mediate plastic trade-offs between growth and carbon storage in dominant desert shrubs

Dominant shrub species in temperate deserts exhibit specialized adaptations and divergent evolutionary strategies in response to varying and extreme environmental stresses. However, it remains unclear how shrub species balance growth and carbon storage to cope with abiotic combined stresses across extensive spatiotemporal gradients. Guided by the Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Continuum (SPAC) theory and combined with a 20-year monitoring of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), we conducted extensive field surveys across a representative temperate desert area. Using ensemble learning on 60 integrated environmental variables, the region was automatically classified into four SPAC systems that reflect gradients of combined temperature, precipitation, radiation, soil properties, and other factors. Results revealed divergent trade-offs between growth and carbon storage of shrubs mediated by intensity and combination of stresses. Shrubs in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau faced severe temperature-water stres..., Study area The field sampling regions are mainly situated in the desert region of central Asia, spanning 37 degrees of longitude and 20 degrees of latitude, stretching from 78° E, 32° N to 115° E, 52° N. This expansive area encompasses several typical temperate deserts, arranged from west to east: Gurbantunggut desert, Taklamakan desert, Kumtag desert, Qaidam desert, Badain Jaran desert, Tengger desert, Ulan Buh desert, Kubuqi desert, Mu Us sandy land and Hunshandake sandy land. The orientation of the sample zone ran from northwest to southeast, essentially perpendicular to the precipitation contour in the northwest desert region of China. Within this region, the average annual precipitation exhibited considerable variation, ranging from 40 mm to 394 mm. The average annual temperature spanned from 4.32 ℃ to 9.79 ℃. Crucially, the remote and largely uninhabited nature of these deserts makes them an unparalleled natural laboratory. Having grown quietly for millennia across these diverse l..., # Environmental stress gradients mediate plastic trade-offs between growth and carbon storage in dominant desert shrubs Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.ffbg79d61](10.5061/dryad.ffbg79d61) ## Description of the data and file structure #### This collection includes the following contents: * NSC data, shrub volume data, 60 environmental variables, and VPD data for each sampling site. * Potential distribution maps of dominant desert shrubs. * Spatial distribution maps of NSC content in dominant desert shrubs from 2003 to 2022. * R code for analyzing NSC data. * Python code for SPAC-UMAP. * Python code for the U-Net model. ### Files and variables ##### File: Source_data_file.xlsx **Description:** The dataset includes NSC measurements of desert shrubs, shrub volume data, 60 environmental variables (encompassing soil properties, climatic factors, topographic features, and other ecological indicators), Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) data, and GOSIF (Global OCO-2 Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Flu..., , **Changes after Feb 9, 2026:** Renamed the \"Shrub_data.xlsx\" file and included additional data (Source_data_file.xlsx). ,温带荒漠优势灌木物种针对多变且极端的环境胁迫演化出特化适应策略与分化的进化路径。然而，目前尚不清楚灌木物种如何权衡生长与碳储存，以应对广泛时空梯度下的非生物复合胁迫。本研究以土壤-植物-大气连续体(Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Continuum, SPAC)理论为指导，结合20年非结构性碳水化合物(Non-structural Carbohydrates, NSC)监测数据，在典型温带荒漠区域开展了大范围野外调查。基于60项整合环境变量的集成学习方法，研究区域被自动划分为4个SPAC系统，这些系统反映了温度、降水、辐射、土壤属性及其他因子的复合梯度变化。研究结果揭示了胁迫强度与组合介导的灌木生长与碳储存间的分化权衡关系。青藏高原区域的灌木面临严重的温水分胁迫…… ## 研究区域 野外采样区域主要位于中亚荒漠带，经度跨度37°、纬度跨度20°，范围覆盖东经78°、北纬32°至东经115°、北纬52°。这片广袤区域涵盖了多个典型温带荒漠，自西向东依次为：古尔班通古特沙漠、塔克拉玛干沙漠、库姆塔格沙漠、柴达木沙漠、巴丹吉林沙漠、腾格里沙漠、乌兰布和沙漠、库布齐沙漠、毛乌素沙地与浑善达克沙地。采样带走向为西北-东南向，基本与中国西北荒漠区的降水等高线垂直。该区域年均降水量差异显著，介于40 mm至394 mm之间；年均气温范围为4.32 ℃至9.79 ℃。 尤为关键的是，这些荒漠地处偏远且几乎无人定居，堪称无与伦比的天然实验室。它们历经数千年在多样的…… # 环境胁迫梯度介导荒漠优势灌木生长与碳储存的表型权衡 数据集DOI：[10.5061/dryad.ffbg79d61](10.5061/dryad.ffbg79d61) ## 数据与文件结构说明 本数据集包含以下内容： * 各采样点的非结构性碳水化合物(NSC)数据、灌木体积数据、60项环境变量数据以及水汽压亏缺(Vapor Pressure Deficit, VPD)数据 * 荒漠优势灌木潜在分布分布图 * 2003年至2022年荒漠优势灌木非结构性碳水化合物含量空间分布图 * 非结构性碳水化合物数据分析的R代码 * SPAC-UMAP分析Python代码 * U-Net模型Python代码 ### 文件与变量 ##### 文件：Source_data_file.xlsx **说明：** 本数据集包含荒漠灌木非结构性碳水化合物(NSC)测定数据、灌木体积数据、60项环境变量（涵盖土壤属性、气候因子、地形特征及其他生态指标）、水汽压亏缺(VPD)数据以及GOSIF（全球OCO-2太阳诱导叶绿素荧光……）。**2026年2月9日后更新内容：** 重命名原"Shrub_data.xlsx"文件并新增Source_data_file.xlsx数据集文件。