Abstract:The effects of different plant communities (Lycium ruthenicum,Alhagi sparsifolia and L.ruthenicum+A.sparsifolia) growing in saline-alkali land on the soil physiochemical properties,soil enzyme activities,and soil microbial communities in 0~20,20~40 and 40~60 cm layers were studied in Dunhuang,Gansu Province.The result showed that the Cl- content decreased with the increase of soil depth,and it was mainly distributed in soil surface.Soil conductivity decreased with the increase of soil depth.Cl- content was higher than SO42- among tested anions,while Na+ content was the highest among tested cations.The number of bacteria was the highest while fungi was the lowest in soil,and the actinomycetes was between bacteria and fungi,indicating that the soil microorganisms mainly were comprised by bacteria.The activities of catalase,invertase and alkaline phosphatase in soil were significantly different (P<0.05) with the exception of urease.These results indicate that NaCl is the main salt in the saline-alkali soil in this region.