When vegetative organs of plants wither, the nutrient resorption from senescing tissues to storage tissues was the most important adaptative strategy in different growing environments. The nitrogen concentration in green, senescent stages and nitrogen resorption efficiency (NRE) in 5 perennial dominant species were evaluated in a manipulative experiment conducted in Stipa breviflora desert steppe, Inner Mongolia, with treatments of warming, nitrogen addition and its interaction. The results showed that warming significantly increased nitrogen concentration in green and senescent plants by 5.5% and 11.3%, respectively, and decreased NRE by 7.0%. Nitrogen addition significantly increased nitrogen contents in green plants by 5.2% and decreased NRE by 2.9%. There was significant interaction between warming and nitrogen addition to increase nitrogen concentrations of green and senescent plants and to reduce NRE. The nitrogen concentration and NRE of the five species showed higher species-specific responses in different treatments, these species-specific responses reflected flexible adaptation of the plants to environment change. This research indicated that independently warming and nitrogen and its interaction decreased plant NRE in desert steppe ecosystem. These results will provide data support and experimental evidence in predicting the trend of NRE of desert ecosystem under climate change.