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We aim to understand the distribution of soil moisture and its controlling factors for regional vegetation restoration in a semi-arid sandy land. The top 500 cm soils of the main introduced vegetation types restored for different years in Chinese Mu Us Sandy Land were collected, and the soil moisture and influencing factors were analyzed. The results demonstrated that the total soil water storage decreased in a sequence of shrub land (S) ˃ arbor land (A) ˃ shifting sandy land (CK) ˃ grassland (G). With the increase of restoration period, the soil moisture increased in arbor land and decreased first and then increased in both shrub land and grassland. Soil moisture was negatively correlated (P < 0.05) with root length density (RLD) in G 56 , S 36 , A 21 , and S 21. RLD and soil moisture in S 56 showed an extremely significant negative correlation (P < 0.01). Soil water content had a positive correlation with silt content (P < 0.05) but demonstrated a negative correlation with the sand content (P < 0.05) in A 56. Both silt and sand contents showed negative correlations with soil moisture in G 56 (P < 0.05). In summary, vegetation type, restoration period, RLD, and silt and clay contents have significant effects on soil moisture. To improve the soil moisture status, arbors and bushes should be preferentially considered for vegetation restoration in semi-arid northwest of China.

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vegetation restoration increases carbon sequestration of different soil particles in a semi-arid desert. Ecosphere 12(11): e03848.