Abstract:We investigated the ecophysiological responses of Calligonum roborovskii at different altitudes in the north of Kunlun Mountain,to determine ecophysiological adaptation mechanisms of the species antioxidative system.So we studied the content of Chla,Chlb,Chl(a+b) and Carotenoid,malondialdehyde(MDA),ascorbate(AsA) and proline(Pro),the membrane permeability(MP),specific leaf area(SLA),LMA,Nmass,and the activities of peroxidase(POD),catalase(CAT),superoxide dismutase(SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase(APX) in leaves of C.roborovskii from different altitudes(A1:2190m,A2:2355m,A3:2495m) in Kunlun Mountain.The results showed that Chla,Chlb and Chl(a+b) increased with increasing altitude.At A3,they increased 48.30%,40.10% and 43.71%,respectively,compared with that in A1.SLA and Nmass also increased with increasing altitude. At A3,they increased 33.99% and 20.97%.But LMA decreased with increasing altitude. At A3,they decreased 30.15%。MP and content of MDA had a similar change:they decreased with increasing altitude.Compared with A1,they decreased 184.06% and 58.33%,indicating that it was least damaged in A1.Carotenoid,Pro and AsA decreased with increasing altitude.They decreased 65.88%,290.21%,38.97%,compared with A1.This showed non-enzyme antioxidant was more accumulated in A1.The activitity of SOD,POD and APX all decreased with increasing altitude,except CAT.Compared with A1,they decreased 18.75%,122.37%,23.03%.At the same time,content of O-2 and H2O2 also decreased with increasing altitude. They decreased 54.48% and 9.69%.In the area,Aos keep at low level,so it induced to gene expression.More non-enzyme antioxidant and stonger activity of enzyme were favourable for eliminating intracellular active oxygen,keeping the cell membrane in a stable condition and ensuring normal growth of C.roborovskii.