In order to understand the changes in metabolic characteristics of wetland soil microbial community under different water status, soil was collected from Poyang Lake wetland and was used for a 132 d greenhouse experiment, and Biolog was used to understand metabolic activity of soil microbial carbon source under three water conditions (drought, wetting and flooding). The results showed that soil microbial metabolic activity was the highest in wetting condition, the average well color development (AWCD) was 1.34 and 3.95 times (120 h) of those in drought and flooding conditions on the 72nd days, respectively. Meanwhile, the abilities of soil microbial utilizing different type carbon sources also were significantly changed under different treatments, polymers and carbohydrates were mainly used under drought condition (39.25% and 36.53%, respectively), while amino acids mainly used (36.33%) under flooding condition. Metabolic characteristics of soil microbial carbon source reached a stable state on the 21st day, while soil physiochemical properties and soil microbial community structure were changed significantly on the 72nd day. At the same time, it was found that soil pH and ammonium nitrogen content were increased and microbial community diversity was decreased under flooding condition. The results suggest that water status not only affects metabolic activity of total carbon source, but also changes the relative utilization ability of different carbon sources, and then changes soil environment in wetland soil.