Study is made on a 45 km-long artificial ecosystem without irrigation in Tengger desert on the basis of long-term ecological monitoring and ecohydrological fundamentals. Changes in water allocation, utilization, cycle and balance patterns in more than 40-year evolution of the soil-plant system are analyzed. The formation of a drought horizon in shrub rhizosphere and its effect, ecohydrological function of the crust and its effect on the soil-plant system change are discussed. Driven by water self-regulation and water stress, the soil-plant system is going to develop towards the steppe desert to ensure more effective use and optimum collocation of water resource.

The characteristics of red karst weathering crust in the research region can be divided into three subtypes. The first one includes the silicon to aluminum ratio, the composition of the clay minerals, etc., and reflects the weak action of de-silicon and aluminum enrichment. The second one, for example the granularity, shows that the viscous action is strong. The third one, such as the CaCO₃ content and pH value, has regional difference in a large scale, which is consistent with the condition of modern scenery, so it is not important as for the ancient environment.