To elucidate the impact of plant cover and straw mulching on soil salinity variations and soil fertility in coastal areas,a field experiment was conducted from May 2014 to May 2015 in the mediumheavy salinity of coastal areas in Rudong,Jiangsu Province.Four treatment were applied in the study:Control(bare land,CK),straw mulching(straw cover amount for 15 t/hm2,SM),plant cover(PC)and plant cover combined with straw mulching(straw cover amount for 7.5 t/hm2,PC+1/2SM).Results showed that:(1)Compared with CK(bare area)treatment,after 6 months of mulching(in December),soil salinity at soil depth of 0~40 cm in SM treatment was decreased by 91.0% or more(P<0.05),and there were no significant differences in PC and PC+1/2SM treatment(P > 0.05);After about one year of mulching(in April),soil salinity at soil depth of 0~100 cm had obviously declined in SM,PC and PC+1/2SM treatments,and soil salinity at soil depth of 0~40 cm and 40~100 cm were decreased by over 97.0% and 83.0%,over 40.0% and 30.0%,over 54.0% and 33.0%,respectively,in SM,PC and PC+1/2SM treatments(P<0.05)；(2)Soil pH value at the depth of 0～100 cm in SM and PC+1/2SM treatments were significantly higher than that in CK and PC treatments,but had no significant differences between CK and PC treatment;(3)PC and PC+1/2SM treatments significantly increased soil organic carbon,total nitrogen,available nitrogen contents and soil total porosity and decreased soil bulk at topsoil(0~20 cm)(P<0.05),but SM treatment had no significant effect on soil bulk,soil organic carbon,total nitrogen,available nitrogen,available phosphorus and other nutrients.Therefore,compared with CK and PC+1/2SM treatments,SM treatment had more obvious effects on soil desalination,but considering the desalination and soil fertility improvement,appropriate salttolerant plants covering combined with suitable amount of straw mulching(such as cover amount of 15 t/hm2)in coastal areas may be adopted to promote soil desalting effects and soil improvement in the future.