Abstract: Taking the soil under the main sand-fixing shrub Caragana microphylla in Horqin Sandy Land of Northwest China as test object, and by using TDR and microlysimeter, this paper measured the soil moisture content and soil evaporation at different positions under the shrub within 180 h after a 21.5 mm rainfall during growth season, and calculated the water storage and water balance at the different positions. During the early period of the rainfall ended, the stemflow of the shrub made the soil moisture content in root zone being obviously higher, and the infiltration rate in root zone was faster than that in other positions. Due to the canopy shading, the soil evaporation under the shrub was less than that in the bared sand outside the shrub. The water balance showed that in the early period after rainfall, the evapotranspiration under the shrub was obviously higher than in the bared sand outside the shrub, which had a direct correlation with the root distribution under the shrub.

Key words: abandoned land,  , succession stage, plant community, soil antierodibility.