Understanding leaf traits in different habitats and succession stages can provide useful scientific guidance for vegetation construction. This paper characterized inter-species and intra-species differences of leaf traits in different habitats, their temporal changes during vegetation recovery after abandonment of cultivation and their relationships across all species in the Liudaogou catchment of Shenmu County in a typical water-wind erosion crossover region on the Loess Plateau. The results showed that large inter-species differences existed in all habitats, probably reflecting the adaptation of species to the environment and strong influence of their genetic nature. At the species level, the maximum photosynthesis rate (Pmax), photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE), and specific leaf area (SLA) showed significant decreasing trends as time elapsed since abandonment, while water use efficiency (WUE) and nitrogen content (Nmass) were not significantly correlated to years elapsed since abandonment. At the community level, the tends were consistent with those at the species level except for SLA. Among the 32 plant species in the studied area, Pmax, while not correlated with SLA, was significantly positively correlated with the WUE、PNUE and Nmass（P＜0.05); the PNUE, while not correlated with Nmass, was significantly positively correlated with the WUE and SLA（P＜0.001); and the Nmass was significantly positively related to SLA (P<0.001). Compared with other studies in other regions, the species in the study area had lower Pmax、PNUE and SLA. Those lower values may be a result of the plant species adapting to infertile soil and harsh habitats of the study area.