[Objective] To better understand the variation rule of soil carbon pool composition and soil nutrient before and after afforestation and the influence of soil nutrient to soil carbon pool composition in reclaimed mine.[Method] This study was conducted in grassland and forest land of Populus alba var. pyramidalis in reclaimed mine to explore the variation and relation of soil inorganic carbon pool, active organic carbon pool, chronic organic carbon pool, inert organic carbon pool and soil nutrient, and contribution of soil nutrient to soil carbon. [Result] The results showed that the contents of soil nutrients and soil carbon increased after afforestation in reclaimed mine. The content of soil total nitrogen, available nitrogen, total phosphorous, available phosphorous, total potassium and available potassium in forest land increased by 29.27%, 17.21%, 23.08%, 27.04%, 51.18% and 53.19% than in grassland, while the content of soil nitric nitrogenin forest land decreased by 71.84% than in grassland. The content of soil organic carbon, particle organic carbon, non-particle organic carbon, dissolved inorganic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon and reducing sugar carbon in forest land increased by 50.35%, 62.46%, 22.56%, 113.53%,230.23%, 274.63% and 72.54% than in grassland. There was a significant positive correlation between soil inorganic carbon pool and active organic carbon pool, but no significant correlation with chronic organic carbon pool and inert organic carbon pool. The soil nutrient factors accounted for 40.7% of contribution rate to soil carbon sequestration.The correlation analysis also showed that there was a significant positive correlation between soil total potassium,available potassium and carbon pool composition. [Conclusion] The comprehensive analysis shows that afforestation can improve the soil nutrient status and carbon sequestration significantly in reclaimed area of Wuhai opencast coal mine. This conclusion can be used as a reference for further study on the improvement of soil quality and the restoration of ecological function in reclaimed mine of arid desert areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]