Abstract:In order to explore the changes of vegetation community characteristics and soil environmental factors in the 50 a plantation of Caragana korshinskii in the sqndy-hilly area of northwest Shanxi Province, the changes of growth characteristics, soil water content, soil nutrients and plant community characteristics of C. korshinskii were analyzed in 0 (abandoned land), 12, 18, 40 and 50 years. The results showed that: (1) With the increase of planting years of artificial C. korshinskii forest, the coverage and height of C. korshinskii increased significantly in the time gradient. Specifically, the coverage of C. korshinskii in the late planting period (40~50 years) was 1.98 times of that in the early planting period (0~12 years), while the height was 1.48 times of that in the early planting period (0~12 years). However, the density of C. korshinskii decreased significantly with the increase of planting years, from 0.35 plants/m2 in the early planting period (0~12 years) to 0.11 plants/m2 in the late planting period (40~50 years). (2) Soil environmental factors gradually recovered with the increase of planting years of artificial C. korshinskii forest, which showed that the SOC, pH, AN, and AK increased on the time gradient, and the SW, SS, and AP decreased. The restoration degree of 0—20 cm surface soil was higher than that of 20—100 cm soil. (3) In the early stage (0~12 years), the recovery rate of soil nutrients was significantly lower than that in the middle and late stage (12~50 years). The shrub had a significant enrichment effect on soil nutrients (0—20 cm). With the extension of the establishment time of the plantation, during the late planting period (40~50 years), the area of islands of fertility extended to the shrub. (4) With the increase of planting years in artificial C. korshinskii forest, the soil environment improved, the species and quantity of herbaceous plants increased significantly, and the dominant species also changed, from the pioneer annual species (Artemisia dalai-lamae and Avena fatua) as the dominant species in the early planting period (0~12 years) to the dominant perennial herbaceous species (Elymus dahuricus) in the middle and late planting period (12~50 years). The natural semi-shrub (Artemisia gmelinii) invaded, and the simple artificial C. korshinskii forest changed to the complex shrub community. (5) Planting artificial C. korshinskii forest had an obvious role in promoting soil environmental factors and community diversity. Through different types of plant community and soil environmental factors of RDA constraint sorting analysis diagram, artificial forest of C. korshinskii, annual herb, perennial herb and natural subshrub and soil environmental factors (SW, soil nutrient index) showed significantly correlation. Different types of plant communities and soil environmental factors were interrelated and mutually restricted to form a relatively stable community structure. The planting of C. korshinskii forest has important reference value for community restoration and ecological environment reconstruction in arid and semi-arid areas.