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Changing precipitation and temperature are principal drivers for nutrient cycling dynamics in drylands. Foliar isotopic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) composition (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) are often used to describe the plant’s water use efficiency and nitrogen use strategy in plant ecology research. However, the drivers and mechanisms under differential foliar δ 13 C and δ 15 N among plant species and communities are largely unknown for arid high-elevation regions. This study collected 462 leaf samples of ten top-dominant plant species (two or three replicates per species) across 16 sites in 2005 and 2010 to measure the community-weighted means (CWMs) of foliar δ 13 C and δ 15 N, northeastern Qaidam Basin, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Our results showed that the CWM of foliar δ 15 N was higher in 2005 than in 2010 and was lower in the warm-dry season (July and August) than the cool-wet one (June and September) in 2010. Similarly, the CWM of foliar δ 13 C was higher in 2005 than in 2010, but no difference between warm-dry and cool-wet seasons in 2010. C 4  plants have higher δ 13 C and generally grow faster than C 3  species under warm-wet weathers. This might be why the CWM of foliar δ 13 C was high, while the CWM of foliar δ 15 N was low in the wet sampling year (2010). The general linear mixed models revealed that soil moisture was the most critical driver for the CWM of foliar δ 15 N, which explained 42.1% of the variance alone. However, the total soluble salt content was the crucial factor for the CWM of foliar δ 13 C, being responsible for 29.7% of the variance. Growing season temperature (GST) was the second most vital factor and explained 28.0% and 21.9% of the variance in the CWMs of foliar δ 15 N and δ 13 C. Meanwhile, remarkable differences in the CWMs of foliar δ 15 N and δ 13 C were also found at the species level. Specifically,  Kalidium gracile  and  Salsola abrotanoides  have higher foliar δ 15 N, while  Ephedra sinica  and  Tamarix chinensis  have lower foliar δ 15 N than other species. The foliar δ 13 C of  Calligonum Kozlov and H. ammodendron  was the highest among the ten species. Except for the foliar δ 13 C of  E. sinica  was higher than  Ceratoide latens  between the two sampling years or between the cool-wet and warm-dry seasons, no significant difference in foliar δ 13 C was found for other species. Overall, the CWMs of foliar δ 15 N and δ 13 C dynamics were affected by soil properties, wet-dry climate change, and species identity in high-elevation deserts on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau.

Soil Moisture and Soluble Salt Content Dominate Changes in Foliar δ13C and δ15N of Desert Communities in the Qaidam Basin, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau