Abstract: The content of soil organic carbon and active organic carbon under different land use patterns（arable land,derelict land,grassland and woodland） in Ningxia desert steppe was determined,and the proportion of soil active organic carbon to organic carbon was analyzed in order to explore the influence of different land use patterns on soil active organic carbon.The proportion of soil active organic carbon in organic carbon and the soil driving factors that affect the soil active organic carbon had been analyzed.The results showed that the total content of soil organic carbon in the four land use types ranges from 1.78 g·kg^-1 to 6.17 g·kg^-1,which was obviously showed by the trend of derelict land＞horqin peashrub land＞grassland＞arable land.And the content of organic carbon in the surface layer（0-5 cm） was significantly higher than that of the deep soil layer（10-60 cm）,which indicated that soil organic carbon was mainly enriched in the surface layer.The content of easily oxidizing organic carbon in the four land use types ways ranges from 0.57 mg·g^-1 to 1.38 mg·g^-1,and the changing trend was specifically showed by horqin peashrub land＞grassland＞arable land＞derelict land.Besides,content of the horqin peashrub land was higher than the other three types of land in each soil layer.The soil water soluble organic carbon content of these four lands was from 6.8 mg·kg^-1 to 11.1 mg·kg^-1,which was showed by grassland＞arable land＞forestland＞derelict land.The proportion of easily oxidizing organic carbon in these four lands was from 13.7% to 43.1%,which was showed by horqin peashrub land＞arable land＞grassland＞derelict land.And the proportion of water soluble organic carbon in these four lands was from 0.11% to 0.48%,which was showed by arable land＞grassland＞horqin peashrub land＞derelict land.The proportion of water soluble organic carbon in arable land and grassland declines with the rises of soil depth,which was consistent with the trend of organic carbon in arable land and grassland.Land use change could significantly affect the content and distribution of soil active organic carbon,and could sensitively reflect the change of soil carbon pool.It could be used as one of the indicators to evaluate soil quality and fertility in Ningxia desert steppe.