Abstract:Desert-oasis ecotone, an important constituent of oasis ecosystem has vital role in maintaining the stability of oasis. The correlation between soil moisture and vegetation of the ecotone is the primary scientific issue to better understand the desert-oasis ecotone. This study, a transaction of 1700m×200m with three parallel sampling lines was established and soil moisture, vegetation height and coverage were investigated. The characteristics of spatial heterogeneity in soil moisture and vegetation distribution and their relationships were identified using the method of classical statistic and geostatistical analysis. The result show: in the desert-oasis ecotone, the soil moisture at the 0-200cm soil layer is, on average, 1.45%-3.85% and the variable coefficient is 27.7%-83.2% ; the vegetation coverage is 9%~80% and the variable coefficient is 80% . The coverage and crown diameter are negatively related (p<0.05)to the soil moisture at the 0-20cm and the 20-40cm , and are positively related(p<0.01) to the soil moisture at the 120-140cm and 140-160cm. Soil moisture and vegetation exist strong distribution pattern of spatial heterogeneity, showing a random distribution at small scale(<100m) and a mass distribution structure in larger scale(100-3110m).