Soil salinization is a typical type of the desertification, also a worldwide problem of land resources and ecology. According to the statistics of UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization), 10%~50% of irrigated land is soil salinization. Salinized lands account for 10% of the land areas in China, most of them distribute inland areas in Northwest China, and salinized lands spread over year by year.  

The Minqin Basin, which is located in the east margin of northwest arid regions, is salinized nearly 30 years. The Minqin Basin is short of fresh water resource, so its condition may not be good for the salt-leaching. Therefore, scientists try to use the vegetation to improve the saline lands. 

Lycium ruthenicum is a kind of typical halophytes, it has stronger ability for salt resistance. Scientists from CAREERI (Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute) try to reveal the impacts of the Lycium ruthenicum on the soil salinity, and discuss the effects that using Lycium ruthenicum to improve the soil salinization. 

Soil salinization, one kind of land degradation in the Minqin basin, expanded rapidly recently. Random block experiment was employed to investigate the effects of the plantation of Lycium ruthenicum on horizontal and vertical distribution of soil salt. The experimental site were irrigated by 0.8g•L^-1,2g•L^-1, 5g•L^-1 saline water two years precedent to the plantation of L. ruthenicum. The results showed that horizontal soil salt was significantly influenced by the concentration of irrigation water and soil depth. Mean soil electrical conductivity of 0-100 cm was in the consequence of the pre-treatment of 5g•L^-1＞2g•L^-10.8g•L^-1 saline water. Two year plantation of L. ruthenicum increased the soil salt content under the canopy but decreased that in the interspace soil. The soil salt content at the 0-100 cm layers varied seasonally, which was positively related to the rainfall and the reference evapotranspiration ration. 

This research is financially supported by the National Natural Science Fund of China (31160118, 30960060), “973” Program (2009CB421308) and the Youth Talents Growth Fund of CAREERI (Y184B31001). This paper has been published on the Journal of Desert Research, Vol. 33, No. 5. The full text can be seen:http://zgsm.westgis.ac.cn/EN/abstract/abstract2541.shtml 

Fig. 1 Location of the studied site