Abstract:In order to understand the changes of soil quality under walnut and soybean intercropping in dry farming area, explore the correlations among soil mineral nutrition, microbial carbon and nitrogen and enzyme activity, Yuanlin (Juglans regia cv. L.) was selected as the study material, two cultivation modes of walnut and soybean intercropping and walnut monoculture were set, soil mineral nutrition, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) and enzyme activities were determined in the hardcore, maturity and deciduous stages of walnut. The results showed that intercropping significantly increased the content of soil organic matter (SOM). The contents of alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP) in 0–60 cm soil depth and available potassium (AK) in 0–20 cm soil in hardcore and nut maturity stages were significantly reduced. At the same time, the accumulation of AN and AP were reduced in deep soil, thus the absorption and utilization of nutrients by crops were accelerated. Compared with single cropping, intercropping increased soil MBC content in deep soil (40–60 cm) at the whole growth stage and soil MBN content at the hardcore stage. At maturity and deciduous stages, soil MBN content was increased in 0–40 cm, which maintained soil MBC content in deep soil. Under intercropping conditions, the activities of β-glucosidase (BG), phosphomonesterase (AKP), α-cellulase (CBH), N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) in soil were the highest at the maturity stage and the lowest at hardcore stage. The activities of the above enzymes in hardcore stage were significantly lower than those of single cropping, while were higher than those of single cropping in maturity and defoliation stages, which showed great fluctuation. 4) Pearson correlation analysis showed that soil MBC was positively correlated with total nitrogen (TN), AN and SOM (P<0.01). Both soil MBC and MBN were significantly correlated with AKP activity under intercropping (P<0.05). The activities of the five enzymes were positively correlated with each other (P<0.01). In conclusion, interplanting soybean in young walnut orchard in dry farming area can significantly increase the contents of SOM, AN and AP at walnut growth period, reduce the accumulation of AN and AP but increase the content of MBC in deep soil, promote soil enzyme activities at nut maturing stage, thus improve the absorption and utilization of nutrients by crops.