Sites description and samples collection
The Taklimakan Desert is located in
the northwest of China, specifically, in the southern region of Xinjiang
province and the center of the Tarim Basin. The desert covers an area of
337,600 Km2 and 85% of the surface is occupied by
active dunes (Yang et al., 2016). It is the largest desert in China, and
the second-largest mobile desert in the world. The annual mean
temperature ranges from 9.9 to 12.6 °C, annual precipitation ranges from
17.4 to 66.3 mm, and the potential evaporation range from 2,100 to 3,400
mm. It belongs to the extremely arid temperate continental climate (Zhu,
1964; Zhu et al., 1981). In this study, the free of vegetation and human
activity areas were selected as sampling sites. A total of 48 sand
samples along a north-south transect were collected with sterile
sampling bags from 8 sites in the Taklimakan Desert in September 2018
(Fig. 1). At least three surface (0-5 cm, S) and subsurface (50 cm, Su)
sand samples were separately collected at each sampling site. All the
samples were transported to the laboratory within one week at a low
temperature and then stored at -20°C. The detailed information of the
samples is provided in Table S1.