<p>UC is the community under the <i>P. euphratica</i> canopy, whereas the OC is the community outside the <i>P. euphratica</i> canopy. For UC, <i>P. euphratica</i> is the only tree species (woody plant, height >6 m) while the others are shrub (woody plant, height <6 m) and herbage (herbaceous plants, height <1 m). For OC, all plants are shrubs and herbages. “–” in table indicating no values because of the ephemeral plants life history turnoff and randomly setting samples along June (early growth period of <i>P. euphratica</i>), August (middle growth period of <i>P. euphratica</i>) and October (defoliating period of <i>P. euphratica</i>). The figures in table showing Growth dominance indices of species belonged to UC and OC. All plots are established in 5×5 km area of Ebinur Lake Wetland Nature Reserve in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China.</p><p>Differences of species growth dominance index between the UC and the OC.</p