Morphological and physiological responses of desert plants to drought stress in a man-made landscape of the Taklimakan desert shelter belt

•Two species exhibited different acclimation responses in responses to drought.•C. arborescens being more “Efficiently” and H. ammodendron being more “Safely”.•Morphological and physiological adjustment was the main mechanism for C. arborescens and it can be used as pioneer”sand-fixation species.•H. ammodendron acclimated to drought by physiological adjustment and it could be used in sustainable development of ecological restoration.•Different Ψl lead to different WUE. Drought and desertification have become a worldwide ecological problems, which pose new challenges for plant survival and adaptation. Thus, it is of great significance to explore the adaptive strategies of plants to drought stress for the survival and sustainable development of man-made ecosystem in desert. In this study, two drought treatments of control (10-day irrigation cycle) and drought (no irrigation) respectively were used to study the physiological and morphological acclimation of Haloxylon ammodendron (C.A. Mey) Bunge and Calligonum arborescens Litv, in a man-made landscape of the Taklimakan desert shelter belt. The results showed that not only significant difference for stomatal conductance and water potential was presented in this research for two species, but also the morphological difference. In response to drought, C. arborescens produced significantly shorter and thicker leaves, while H. ammodendron produced significantly shorter and thinner leaves. Additionally, for C. arborescens, non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) were significantly aggregated in the roots (P