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Plant nutrient stoichiometry and resorption efficiency are important functional traits related to plant nutrient status and biogeochemical cycling. Such traits are not well documented for desert shrubs. We studied how the stoichiometry and resorption efficiency of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) varied among nine dominant desert shrub species through systematically investigating their concentrations in green and senesced leaves (or assimilation branches) of desert plants at 24 sites across Xinjiang, China. We hypothesized that desert shrubs should have low leaf N and P but high leaf K concentrations; and have high leaf N and P but low K resorption efficiency, given the low N and P but high K availability in this arid region. These shrubs had a mean leaf N concentration of 18.9 mg g−1, and lower leaf P but higher leaf K concentration (1.2 and 17.0 mg g−1, respectively) than desert plants at national and global levels. The mean (± SE) resorption efficiencies of leaf N, P and K in the desert shrubs were 51.0 ± 2.4%, 54.9 ± 2.0% and 46.3 ± 3.5%, respectively, lower than in the woody plants globally. The higher green‐leaf N:P (17.2 ± 0.8) and K:P (15.3 ± 1.0) relative to the corresponding critical ratios, and the higher P resorption efficiency (54.9%) relative to N (51.0%) and K (46.3%) resorption efficiency, suggested that the dominant desert shrubs in Xinjiang generally suffer from P (or both P and N) deficiency. Additionally, our results showed little evidence of higher resorption relative to their counterparts in most other ecosystems.

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