Objective  Soil diversity is widely used to explore, quantify, and to compare the complexity of soil patterns in different units. This paper explores the distribution characteristics of soil diversity and the influence of different soil forming factors on soil diversity in Northern Xinjiang from the perspective of different geomorphic regions, providing scientific basis for Soil conservation and sustainable agricultural development in Xinjiang.

  Method  This study introduces China’s secondary geomorphic regions as the basis for dividing the study area, and introduces relevant indicators such as Richness Index (P_a), Diversity Index (H), and Uniformity Index (E) to explore the characteristics of soil diversity in Northern Xinjiang in arid and semi-arid regions; Using geographic detectors, species area curve models, and moving window techniques, discuss and analyze the intensity of the impact of parent materials, vegetation, topography, temperature, and precipitation on soil diversity in different geomorphologic regions.

  Result  The results showed that brown desert soil, brown calcium soil and gray brown desert soil were the main Soil type in Northern Xinjiang, and the area of different geomorphic regions was significantly positively correlated with the corresponding richness index; And the soil Diversity index is Tianshan Alpine Basin > Altai Mountains > The Junggar Basin > New Ganmeng Hilly Plain. The soil diversity and uniformity index in the New Ganmeng Hilly Plain are the lowest, indicating that the soil distribution in this area is relatively scattered, and the area of each soil type varies greatly. A few soils control the soil distribution in this area. The results of the factor detector show that in the Altai Mountains, the explanation level of precipitation for soil diversity is 8.96%, which is higher than other influencing factors. This indicates that the main influencing factor of soil diversity in the region is precipitation. For the New Ganmeng Hilly Plain, Tianshan Alpine Basin and the Junggar Basin, parent material is the main factor affecting soil diversity, with the interpretation degree of 24.04%, 16.93% and 45.15% respectively. From the display results of the ecological detector, there is no significant difference in the degree of explanation of soil diversity among the four geomorphic regions, all of which are below the 0.05 level, indicating that the calculation results of the factor detector are reliable.

  Conclusion  Based on this, two conclusions can be drawn: First, the soil desertification in Northern Xinjiang is relatively serious, and the ecology of some areas is fragile, and the ecological environment is controlled by a few kinds of soils. Secondly, there are differences in the intensity of the impact of parent material, vegetation, topography, temperature, and precipitation on soil diversity among different geomorphic regions in the Northern Xinjiang region, but the main influencing factors have not changed significantly. At the same time, different soil area, Soil type distribution and soil forming conditions will directly or indirectly affect the results of soil diversity.