Plant phenology is a commonly used indicator representing the impacts on vegetation by the climate and other environmental factors. The use of repeated digital photography provides an opportunity to conduct long-term monitoring of plant phenology and to extract phenological transition dates. Here, we tracked the phenological changes in the flowering tree, Elaeagnus angustifolia L., in the Cherigele (CRGL) of the Badain Jaran Desert (BJD) and the nearby Lianggejing (LGJ); using one-year near-surface digital repeat photography and meteorological data, the phenological difference between the two sites was revealed. We found that the use of digital cameras allowed for the monitoring of plant phenology with high temporal and spatial accuracy in these dryland ecosystems. Furthermore, in the lake group region of BJD, the onset of greening occurred 23 days earlier, the onset of dormancy began 13 days later and the growing season was 36 days longer, compared to those of the surrounding area. This difference is partly related to the higher altitude in the LGJ; however, it is dominantly related to the warm island effect in the lake group region. This effect resulted in the mean annual temperature in the CRGL being ~1.6 °C higher than in the LGJ.

植物物候学是一种常用的指标，代表气候和其他环境因素对植被的影响。重复数码摄影的使用提供了对植物物候进行长期监测并提取物候过渡日期的机会。在这里，我们追踪了开花树Elaeagnus angustifolia的物候变化L.，位于巴丹吉林沙漠（BJD）和附近的两格井（LGJ）的Cherigele（CRGL）中；使用一年的近地数字重复摄影和气象数据，揭示了两个地点之间的物候差异。我们发现，使用数码相机可以在这些旱地生态系统中以高时空精度监视植物物候。此外，在BJD的湖群地区，与周围地区相比，绿化发生的时间提前了23天，休眠开始的时间晚了13天，生长季节延长了36天。这种差异部分与LGJ的较高海拔有关；然而，它主要与湖群地区的暖岛效应有关。这种影响导致CRGL中的年平均温度约为1。