Gully bank is an important part of the eroded gully and is an ecologically fragile zone. Vegetation and soil water play critical roles for regulating the hydrological process of gully banks and preventing the soil collapse of gully edge in arid and semi-arid areas. However, the effects of different vegetation on the distribution of soil water in the gully edge are still unknown in semi-arid areas. In this study, the variation in soil water content (SWC) was studied at distances of 0.5 m (D0.5), 2.0 m (D2.0), and 3.5 m (D3.5) from the gully edge in a shrubland (SL), bare land after removal of shrubs (SBL), grassland (GL), and bare land after removal of grasses (GBL). The results showed that SWC reduced with proximity to the gully edge in SBL and GBL. Soil water storage in both SL and GL was higher at D0.5 than at D2.0 and D3.5. In both dry and wet seasons, SWC in SL was significantly lower than that in GL at all locations (P < 0.05). Compared with SBL, the SWC in SL in the wet season significantly reduced 15.42%, 27.56%, and 27.73% at D0.5, D2.0, and D3.5, respectively (P < 0.05). Our findings suggest that grasses should be considered as a suitable choice for revegetation in gully banks to prevent excessive soil water depletion by shrubs and reduce the risk of soil collapse in the gully edge. These findings provide insights into the effects of different vegetation types on soil hydrological processes in gully edges.

沟谷是侵蚀沟的重要组成部分，是一个生态脆弱的地区。在干旱和半干旱地区，植被和土壤水分对于调节沟壑水文过程和防止沟壑边缘土壤崩塌起着至关重要的作用。然而，在半干旱地区，不同植被对沟边缘土壤水分分布的影响仍然未知。在这项研究中，研究了距灌丛沟壑边缘0.5 m（D0.5），2.0 m（D2.0）和3.5 m（D3.5）的土壤水分含量（SWC）的变化（ SL），去除灌木后的裸地（SBL），草地（GL）和去除草后的裸地（GBL）。结果表明，SWC随SBL和GBL中的沟缘而减小。SL和GL的土壤水储量在D0.5均高于D2.0和D3.5。P  <0.05）。与SBL相比，SL在湿季的SWC在D0.5，D2.0和D3.5分别显着降低了15.42％，27.56％和27.73％（P  <0.05）。我们的研究结果表明，应考虑将草类作为沟壑岸边植被恢复的合适选择，以防止灌木耗竭土壤水分，并减少沟壑边缘土壤崩塌的风险。这些发现为不同植被类型对沟边缘土壤水文过程的影响提供了见识。