Abstract: By the method of simulated rainfall, this paper studied the redistribution of rainfall on shrubs Haloxylon ammodendron and H. persicum in Gurbantonggut Desert, and investigated the root distribution of the shrubs in 0-100 cm soil layer. Regression analysis showed that the stemflow, throughfall, and interception of the shrubs had logarithmic correlation with rainfall. The rainfall redistribution on the two shrubs had no significant difference at the same rainfall intensities, but differed significantly at different rainfall intensities. The stemflow of H. ammodendron and H. persicum at rainfall intensity 20 mm·h^-1 was 2.3 and 2.9 times of that at 30 mm·h^-1, respectively. The root system of H. persicum was mainly distributed in surface soil, and 86% of the lateral roots were distributed in 0-60 cm soil layer. The amount of the lateral roots of H. persicum  in 0-20 cm, 20-40 cm, and 40-60 cm soil layers was 10.0, 9.6, and 10.9 times of that of H. ammoderdron, respectively. The extending space of H. persicum lateral roots was significantly larger than that of H. ammoderdron’s, and the root coronal radius of H. persicum was larger than that of H. ammoderdron, being 7.1 m and 2.3 m, respectively. All the results suggested that in the study area, H. persicum  could use rainwater more efficiently than H. ammoderdron via the synergistic effects of the special plant morphological structure to increase the redistribution of throughfall and the root absorption of water. H. persicum had sparse distribution of lateral roots, and thereby, this shrub had limited capability of using rainfall and more tended to use underground water.

Key words: Rice-duck farming, Manual weeding, Chemical weeding, Species diversity, Evenness, Similarity