Abstract:In recent years, the influence of vegetation restoration on soil infiltration process in different ecosystems has been a hot topic. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of different vegetation restoration strategies on the spatial change of soil infiltration characteristics. Through the analysis of soil bulk density, soil porosity, soil organic matter, and soil penetrability characteristics of natural grass shrub mixed forest, secondary forest land, natural grassland, mango land, nut land, and corn land in the experimental area of rocky desertification control in Guizhou, the results showed that: For different vegetation restoration strategies, there are significant differences in soil bulk density, porosity, and organic matter content, which are manifested in natural vegetation restoration (grass shrub mixed forest and secondary forest land) and straw returning planting mode can effectively reduce soil bulk density and increase soil porosity. With the increase of soil depth, soil bulk density increased, soil porosity and organic matter content changed in the opposite direction. Different vegetation restoration methods and soil depth significantly changed the soil water permeability characteristics, among which, the soil permeability of natural vegetation restoration (grass shrub mixed forest and secondary forest land) was higher than that of artificial vegetation restoration (mango land and nut land), mainly because under the condition of nature vegetation restoration, soil disturbance was small, plant roots and litter increased, which changes the physical properties of soil, reduces soil bulk density, and improves the comprehensive benefits of soil porosity. With the increase of soil depth, steady infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration amount decreased. By measuring the soil hydrological characteristics of different vegetation restoration methods, we can provide a scientific basis for the evaluation of vegetation restoration methods and soil infiltration performance in karst areas.