To investigate the relationship between soil water-holding capacity and chemical characteristics， as well as the influencing factors， this study took the high-altitude cold meadows of Gannan as the research object， and analyzed the soil water-holding capacity， soil organic carbon （SOC）， nitrogen （N）， phosphorus （P）， soil organic carbon storage （SOCS）， total nitrogen storage （TNS）， total phosphorus storage （TPS）， and stoichiometric ratios. The results indicated that soil water-holding capacity decreased with increasing degradation severity， with the most significant changes in the surface layer； SOC， N， P， SOCS， TNS， carbon-phosphorus ratio （C∶P）， and nitrogen-phosphorus ratio （N∶P） decreased with increasing degradation severity； Soil water-holding capacity was extremely significantly positively correlated with vegetation cover， biomass， height， capillary porosity， total porosity， SOC， N， P， C∶P， N∶P， SOCS， and TNS， and extremely significantly negatively correlated with soil bulk density. Monte Carlo tests indicated that soil bulk density had the highest explanatory power for water-holding capacity （81.8%）， and vegetation cover， soil porosity， SOC， C∶P， TN， and TP were significant influencing factors. Therefore， in the ecological restoration and management of alpine meadows， vegetation and soil improvement measures should be optimised in a coordinated manner to simultaneously enhance water retention capacity and ecological functions.

Alpine meadows  /  Degradation  /  Soil water-holding capacity  /  CNP stoichiometric characterization