Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), and Phosphorus (P) are the key elements controlling productivity, biogeochemical processes in terrestrial ecosystems, and rhizosphere microorganisms mediate their acquisition, transformation and mobilization. In nutrient poor desert ecosystems, plant rhizosphere microbial interactions are therefore crucial for nutrient cycling and plant nutrition. This study selected two dominant desert species from the Ebinur Lake Basin in Xinjiang, the leguminous Alhagi sparsifolia Shap. and the non-leguminous Nitraria roborowskii Kom. Along an aridity gradient perpendicular to the riverbed, rhizosphere microorganisms of both A. sparsifolia and N. roborowskii were primarily N-limited, with N. roborowskii's rhizosphere microorganisms experiencing stronger N limitation. The C limitation of A. sparsifolia's rhizosphere microorganisms intensified along the aridity gradient. Multivariate factor analysis and path analysis results consistently indicated that soil enzyme activity exhibited the strongest positive direct effect on the intensity of microbial nutrient limitation, and microbial diversity had a total effect of 0.85 on it. Distinct plant functional types exhibited significant differences in shaping rhizosphere microbial nutrient limitation patterns. The differentiated microbial nutrient strategies exhibited by typical leguminous and non-leguminous plants in arid regions along an aridity gradient. These research findings not only deepened our understanding of complex plant-microbe interactions and their nutrient cycling mechanisms in arid ecosystems, but also provided a solid theoretical basis for developing more targeted desertification control and ecological restoration measures in the future.