Abstract:Soil samples under five typical vegetation communities were collected in 0-30, 30-60 and 60-90 cm depths in dry and rainy seasons in the central Yunnan plateau, nutrients were measured and stoichiometric parameters were calculated, comprehensive soil fertility and the improvement effects of different vegetation communities were compared using grey correlation analysis. The results showed that the contents of total nitrogen, alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium and organic matter decreased but total potassium increased with the increase of depth, while the content of phosphorus remained relatively stable. Except total potassium, soil nutrients increased under vegetation communities in 0-30 cm depth, which were significantly higher than those in 30-60 cm and 60-90 cm depths. Soil comprehensive fertility decreased slightly for evergreen broad-leaved forest in rainy season, but increased for other four vegetation communities compared with in dry season. Generally speaking, the beneficial effect of evergreen broad-leaved forest on soil nutrient improvement was the highest, while that of Pinus yunnanensis forest was the lowest. C:N, C:P and N:P in 0–30 cm soil under different vegetation communities were higher than those in 30-60 cm and 60-90 cm depths, C:N in rainy season was lower than that in dry season except for Eucalyptus forest, C:P and N:P in rainy season were generally higher than those in dry season. Soil nitrogen and phosphorus were the main limiting factors for the development of vegetation communities. Therefore, considering the effects of different vegetation communities on soil nutrients and their differences in eco-hydrological processes, in the process of ecological restoration in fragile areas of central Yunnan, the planting area of Eucalyptus should be controlled as far as possible, and the proportion of broad-leaved trees should be increased in Pinus yunnanensis forests to promote soil nutrient accumulation and reducie soil and water losses. The above results can provide references for the selection of local tree species from the perspective of soil nutrients.