Objective This study aims to explore the succession characteristics of herbaceous plant communities and soil crusts under different planting years in the process of artificial sand fixation in arid sandy areas, thereby providing a theoretical basis for ecological restoration and effectiveness evaluation of artificial sand fixation in arid sandy areas. Methods The space-for-time substitution method was used to investigate the variation characteristics of understory herbaceous plants and soil crusts across eight succession stages of 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, 28, 53, and 70 years after the planting of artificial vegetation in the Baijitan Nature Reserve at the southern margin of Mu Us Sandy Land, as well as in naturally restored Caragana korshinskii and Artemisia ordosica communities. Results (1) With the advancement of artificial planting years, the species richness of herbaceous plants increased year by year. The artificial planting plots were slightly lower than the natural community plots, with the highest species richness of herbaceous plants observed in the natural Caragana korshinskii and Artemisia ordosica community plots. The coverage showed an overall increasing trend with planting years, increasing from 4.92% to 38.33%, exceeding that of the natural Caragana korshinskii and Artemisia ordosica community plots. The aboveground biomass showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. The aboveground biomass in artificial planting plots was lower than that in natural community plots, and the aboveground biomass of herbaceous plants in natural Caragana korshinskii and Artemisia ordosica community plots was the largest. (2) During the progression of different planting years, soil crusts became an important ecological type of surface coverage, and their thickness also increased with the increase in sand fixation years. (3) Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant synergistic succession relationship between herbaceous plants and soil crusts, jointly affecting the restoration process of the ecosystem through resource competition and mutual facilitation. Conclusion Under the gradient of different planting years of artificial sand fixation, the richness of herbaceous species increases year by year, the types of soil crusts tend to be diverse and their thickness gradually increases, and the synergistic succession of herbaceous plants and soil crusts jointly promotes the restoration and development of artificial sand fixation ecosystems in arid sandy areas.
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