The soil characteristics of types, distribution, physical-chemical status and nutrient and their changes in the conditions of salinization, desertification and cultivation are analyzed in this paper.The results indicate that:①In arid area, the distribution of soils have remarkable vertical and longitude landscape zone. The source function of the warm-temperate brown desert soil is the worst and the other soils are arranged as gray brown desert soil< gray desert soil< gray calcium soil< cultivated soil< forest-meadow soil.②In the different conditions such as cultivation, desertification and salinization,etc,the source functions of soils are varied. The sustainable development of the arid region depends on the features of cultivated soils such as steady improvement, higher productivity level and sustainable utilization. The key problem is the rational utilization and defense of land resources and coordination with the ecological environment.