Abstract: In order to explore the community level stoichiometric characteristics of Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. shrubland and their influencing factors in an arid desert riparian area, 9 sites were vertically sampled within 3800 m from the downstream of Heihe River. The stoichiometric patterns of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in a T. ramosissima community and their relationship with environmental factors were studied by correlation analysis, redundancy analysis (RDA) and partial redundancy analysis (pRDA). The results show the mean TC, TN and TP contents for the T. ramosissima community were 380.27, 30.42 and 1.54 mg/g, respectively. The mean C: N, C: P and N: P ratios for the T. ramosissima community were 12.98, 257.09 and 20.04, respectively. Compared to the results of species level at the global and regional scales, the T. ramosissima community was characterized by lower TC, higher TN and N: P, and relatively stable TP contents. The variation coefficients of the community level stoichiometric characteristics were much lower and their stoichiometric homeostasis was relatively strong. The relatively high N: P levels (14.55-27.20) indicate that the T. ramosissima community might be more heavily limited by P at the community level. Along the river gradient, the TC and TN contents in the T. ramosissima community decreased significantly with distance from the river, but the C: N ratio increased and fluctuated with distance. The TP content of the community decreased and then increased, while the C: P and N: P ratios increased and then decreased with distance. The stoichiometric characteristics and soil physicochemical properties were correlated, and RDA analysis demonstrates that the soil water content, soil bulk density and soil pH had significant impacts on the stoichiometric characteristics of the T. ramosissima community and jointly accounted for 57.7% of the total variation, of which soil moisture accounted for 32.8%. Our observations indicate that soil water and saline-alkali properties were closely related to the stoichiometric characteristics of the T. ramosissima shrubland and that soil water content had a stronger impact on the community stoichiometry variations than soil pH.