Abstract: This study utilized Nitraria tangutorun nebkhas vegetation growing in a desert-oasis ecotone in Minqin to investigate space distribution of soil moisture content and the influence of soil physical properties, particularly soil hardness and crust thickness on water distribution and infiltration of the three evolutionary stages of soil formation; stable sand dune, sand dune formation and moving sand. The aim was to explore the effect of N. tangutorun nebkhas on soil moisture and to establish a theoretical foundation for protective systems for oasis-desert ecotones. The results as follows: 1) Soil hardness and crust thickness were highest in the stable dune, intermediate in forming dunes and least in moving sand. 2) Soil surface bulk density was 2.32, 2.30 and 1.95 g/cm³ in moving sand, forming dunes and stable dunes respectively; maximum water holding capacity, capillary water content, field capacity and total porosity was highest in the stable dune, intermediate in the forming dune and least in the moving sand. Soil physical properties in the subsurface layer were variable in all dune formation stages. 3) In the dry season, the lowest soil moisture contents occurred in soils from forming dunes and moving sand at 0, 70, 150 cm depth, maximum soil moisture occurred at 50, 130, 110 cm; in the rainy season, surface soil moisture content fluctuated while soil moisture at depth was relatively stable. 4) There were significant correlations between rainfall and infiltration in all three stages of soil formation (P<0.01). Water infiltration after rainfall events occurred immediately instable and forming dune soils whereas infiltration in moving sand only occurred when rainfall reached a critical threshold; with rainfall greater than 0.12 mm, infiltration was highest in the stable dune, intermediate in forming dune and least in moving sand.