This study investigated the spatial patterns and growth-stage differences of sand-fixing shrubs across three dune geomorphological types: fixed dunes, semi-fixed dunes, and mobile dunes. Artemisia ordosica plants from the Mu Us Sandy Land were selected as the study material. Spatial point pattern analysis, incorporating the g(r) function and several null models, was applied to examine the spatial distribution, intraspecific associations, and the influence of individual relative elevation on A. ordosica populations at two growth stages(adult and juvenile plants) across the three dune types. The findings revealed that, after accounting for habitat heterogeneity, A. ordosica populations consistently exhibited clustered distributions at small scales(0-5 m), transitioning to random or uniform distributions at larger scales. Additionally, the aggregation intensity(κ) and standard deviation of aggregation distribution(σ) increased with the degree of dune fixation. For different growth stages, the σ was significantly greater for adult plants than for juvenile plants. Regarding intraspecific associations, the relationship between adult and juvenile plants generally exhibited a non-associative(or independent) state, with significant positive associations observed only at the 3-10 m scale on semi-fixed dunes. Furthermore, the influence of individual relative elevation on population spatial distribution demonstrated strong dune-type dependency. Its effect was negligible on highly stable fixed dunes, strongly constrained the distribution of both adult and juvenile plants on semi-fixed dunes, and primarily affected juvenile plants on mobile dunes, which exhibited a significant preference for areas with lower individual relative elevation differences, such as dune bottoms. This study provides theoretical support for the development of sustainable windbreak and sand-fixation strategies in this region.
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