Abstract:In order to better understanding relations between vegetation restoration and environmental factors,long-term located farmland with an abandoned age sequence of 0,1,5,7,10,15,20,25,30,40,and 50 year s in Zhifanggou watershed(8.27 km2),Shanxi province were studied.Areas were selected for their typical erosion environment in loess hilly region.Additionally,effects of soil nutrient,landform,restoration age,soil microbial biomass and soil enzyme activity on vegetation restorations were evaluated by both single factor and significant factors using the Canonical correspondence analysis.Results indicate that key environmental factors affecting variation of species on loess hilly region are polyphenol oxidase,cellulose and Shannon-Wiener diversity index.Both species diversity increased and subsequent improved soil quality with restoration age increasing.Moreover,there was a sensitive response of soil enzyme activities to vegetation variation,while a significant correlation with vegetation variation(P<0.05).The direct expression of the soil community to metabolic requirements and available nutrients provided a more comprehensive understanding of those key processes linking microbial populations and nutrient dynamics.Data suggested that soil enzyme activity can be used as an indicator of soil fertility and microbial activity and to evaluate the influence of land use for soil properties.