Abstract: The phenological data from 1974-2009 were analysed and data relating to vegetation samples and meteorology during 2002-2010 were gathered to elucidate the response of desertified rangeland to air temperature and precipitation variations. 1) The rising rate of annual average temperature in the desert area since 1961 was greater than that at the global level or the national (China) level over the past century. 2) The responses of desert plants to temperature variation were mainly displayed as: the advance of spring phenology, the delay of autumn phenology and the extension of growing duration, all of which were greater than those reported in the available literature. 3) Both vegetation cover and pure cover were mainly positively correlated with the annual precipitation and the precipitations during June-July and April-May. Plant density was mainly positively related to the precipitations in August and September. 4) The impact of rising temperatures in spring on plant phenology was greater than that in autumn. The advance of phenophases, from higher to lower in order was: bud-expansion>bud-opening>the beginning of flowering>the beginning of leaf extension and leaf maturity>flower-bud appearance>peak flowering>the end of flowering>fruit maturity. The delay of phenophase, from higher to lower in order, was sequenced as: full leaf-discoloration>the beginning of leaf-fall>the beginning of leaf-discoloration>end of leaf-fall.