We investigated soil moist ure deficit

interannual and inner-ann ual changes

dry layer features

and restored capability of nat ural precipitation in slope Caragana land and wasteland in the hilly and gullied area of Nort hern Shaanxi Province by positioned measurements and comparative analyses.Results showed that water storage in 0 -10 m soil profile was only 26.2% 41.2% of its water-holding capacity in slope Ca- ragana land

while it was 39.8% 41.2% in slope wasteland.Slope segments

in terms of spatial dist ribu- tion of soil water storage

were in the ascendant order of south faced slope

semi-sout h faced slope

andnorth faced slope

as well as upper slope and lower slope.Inter-annual variation of soil moist ure lowered wit h increased soil depth and the changes of soil water storage mainly took place in O-2 m soil profile.Soil water storage was characterized by obvious seasonal changes but lagged behind rainfall.Within growing season

averaged soil water storages were of significant diff erence between slope Caragana land and wasteland and the variation of soil moisture content was alleviated with increased soil depth.There existed a dry soil layer in soil profile to different extent in bot h Caragana land and wasteland.Comparatively

in deep soil

the dried degree of the soil layer was greater in Caragana land than wasteland.In a bumper year of precipitation

the restored depth of soil moist ure was down to 1.0 m of the soil profile in Caragana land and to 1.2 min wasteland.In Caragana land

the restored depth of soil moisture was 60 cm greater in a bumper year of precipitation than a lean year and soil water storage increased by 3 times in 0-5 m soil.