Abstract: Northwest Shanxi Province is an important part of the Loess Plateau and the farmingpasturing ecotone. On the one hand, it is difficult to guarantee the massive water consumption for mining development due to the serious shortage of water resources, and on the other hand, the aquifers have been seriously damaged and polluted by underground mining, so there is a sharp contradiction between shortage of water resources and massive water consumption. The change of soil moisture content in soil layer of 0-600 cm under 3 different plant species in mining and nonmining areas in northwest Shanxi Province was researched so as to ascertain the depth of soil desiccation, difference of soil moisture content under different plant species and the effect of mining on soil moisture content. The results revealed that the soil moisture content under the 3 plant species in mining and nonmining areas was in an order of Caragana korshinskii > Populus simonii > Hippophae rhamnoides, the depth of soil desiccation was in an order of P. simonii > H. rhamnoides > C. korshinskii, and the average soil moisture content was in an order of mining area < non-mining area. There was a significant positive correlation between soil moisture content and sampling sites and soil depth(P<0.01), but a significant negative one between soil moisture content and plant species (P<0.01).

Key words: mining area, non-mining area, plant species, soil depth, soil moisture content, soil desiccation, northwest Shanxi Province