Abstract:The jujube/crop intercropping ecosystem (JIE) is an important pattern of agro-forestry and distributed widely in North China. The researches are still lacking in the spatial variation of crop yield, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) uptake and apparent loss within JIE. In order to understand the spatial heterogeneity of the intercropping ecosystem, the experiment were carried out at village Dashujin, Nanpi County, Hebei Province during 2005-2006. The soil and plant samples were collected from different site in JIE, i.e. 0.25, 1, 2, 3, 4.5 m and 6.5 m away from the jujube row. And these parameters of the JIE were also compared with the ones in jujube mono-cropping ecosystem (JME) and farmland ecosystem (FE). The results showed that there was an evident horizontal variation of crop yield in JIE. The crop yield decreased obviously closing to jujube row. Compared with FE, there was an 11.4% and 39.9% decrease, respectively, in the grain yield of wheat and maize in JIE. However, the whole JIE increased the land using efficiency. The horizontal variation of N and P uptake was apparent in JIE. And there was a significant positive relationship between crop dry matter production with N and P uptake (P<0.01) in JIE. The order of the quantity of N uptake was JIE>JME>FE and for P it was in the order of FE>JIE>JME. The results also showed that in JIE the N and P apparent loss varied with the distance from the row of jujube trees. The highest value of N and P apparent loss was located at 0.25m away from the jujube. From 6.5m to 2m away from the jujube, N and P apparent loss decreased mildly. The order of the quantity of N and P apparent loss was JME>FE>JIE. JIE increased land using efficiency and decreased N and P apparent loss in the study area. But it was an ecosystem with great spatial heterogeneity, which required adjusting the field management to the different area in JIE.