[Objective] To investigate the difference of water holding capacity of litters in different stand types in Duolun County, and to provide basic data and relevant theory for forest soil water holding capacity in this area.[Methods] Duolun County in Xilinhaote City of Inner Mongolia was taken as the study area, in which 10 representative sites of woodland were selected. Weight of forest litter, water holding capacity and storage capacity were measured to analyze the differences of water holding capacity of litter among different forest types, the effect on moisture content as well.[Results] (1) Forest litter amount, water holding capacity and storage capacity were all higher than that of shrub. (2) The natural forest litter amount, water holding capacity and storage capacity were higher than the corresponding values of artificial forest.(3) The litter thickness significantly affected the water content of the surface soil, i.e., the thicker the litter layer, the higher the surface soil moisture content was.[Conclusion] Because of the influences of tree species composition, age, stand density and site conditions, the water holding capacity of different stand types varied greatly, but the change was basically the same. The influence of forest land on soil moisture was higher than that of grassland.