The study area (42°14′～43°32′N, 120°19′～121°35′E) is located in the hinterland of
Horqin Sandland at the eastern part of
the farming-pasture ecotone, where Naiman Station of Desertification Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is located in. The elevation here varies in a range of 340～360 m a.s.l. It belongs to the continental semi-arid climate, the annual air temperature is 6.4 ℃, and the annual precipitation and evaporation are 364.6 mm and 1 972.8 mm respectively. The landforms are characterized by gently rising-falling fixed, semi-fixed and mobile dunes as well as the vast sandy meadows. The loose aeolian sand soil is dominant, the content of organic matter in soils is low, and the water and fertility conservation capability is poor. The vegetation in the study area is composed of second psammophytes. In this paper, the distribution and correlation of the vegetation characteristics and soil properties over the degenerated sandy grasslands in
Horqin Sandland are researched. The results show that the content of soil nutrients over the degenerated sandy grasslands is low, and soil properties have become highly heterogeneous; the vegetation coverage is low, and the plant species are less; the growth of plants is closely related to the soil matrix, and the vegetation and soils are a unitive system affecting each other. It is revealed that to regenerate the ecosystems is to firstly regenerate the vegetation of the grasslands, and the soil fertility can be raised by the vegetation-soil interaction.