Abstract: To investigate the stoichiometric characteristics of leaves in desert plants and the influencing factors, we analyzed the relationship between leaf stoichiometry and environmental factors of 16 different geographic populations of Caragana stenophylla. The results showed that the mean C, N, and P contents in the leaves of C. stenophylla were 407.72, 34.21, and 1.98 g·kg^-1, with coefficients of variation of 5.9%, 24.2%, and 34.8%, respectively. The mean of C:N, C:P, and N:P were 13.0, 223.8, and 19.6, with coefficients of variation of 37.1%, 26.2%, and 38.8%, respectively, indicating that plant growth was primarily constrained by P. Soil C, N, and P contents across C. stenophylla populations were relatively low, at 7.97, 0.89, and 0.38 g·kg^-1, respectively, with coefficients of variation of 71.3%, 70.1%, and 39.9%, respectively. The mean C:N, C:P, and N:P were 9.0, 22.7, and 2.5, with coefficients of variation of 28.6%, 77.8%, and 72.7%, respectively. There were significantly positive correlations between soil EC, available P, pH, P content and leaf C content, C:N, and P content, while significant negative correlations with leaf N content, C:P, and N:P. In summary, the growth of C. stenophylla was not only primarily limited by plant P content, but was also closely related to soil EC, available P, pH, and P content.

Key words: desert plant, Caragana stenophylla, stoichiometric characteristic, environmental change