Little is known about how desert-steppe systems contribute to the conservation of functionally important insect groups, including carabid beetles. Carabids are frequently used in terrestrial ecology on account of their well-known autecology, wide distribution, sensitivity to environmental changes. Many ecological studies have used diversity indices to assess the impact of environmental disturbance. In particular, ground beetles have been advocated as a good group for assessing disturbance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of desert-steppe structure and type on carabid biodiversity. Habitat distribution and seasonal occurrence of carabid beetles were determined using pitfall traps from March to October in 2009 in a desert-steppe in Sidunzi of Yanchi, Ningxia, Northwestern China. Six transects differing in the vegetation and disturbance were selected so as to represent three habitat types: minimal disturbance (Stipa bungeana grassland), moderately-disturbed (Caragana microphylla shrubs grassland with Artemisia blepharolepis and Clycyrrhiza uralensis, fence grazing dominated by Caragana microphylla and Cynanchum komarovii) and severely-disturbed desert-steppe (Agropyron mongolicum grassland and mixed plantation with Artemisia scoparia and Clycyrrhiza uralensis). During the field research, a total of 1318 carabid beetles were collected, belonging to 15 species and 9 genera. Of these beetles, four species dominated, i.e. Pterostichus gebleri, Pseudotaphoxnus mongolicus, Harpalus salinus and Pseudotaphoxenus brevipennis accounting for 33.08%, 19.73%, 15.94% and 8.04% of the total, respectively. Shannon diversity, species abundance, and evenness were significantly higher in the three transects of the moderately-disturbed desert-steppe than in the three other transects of the minimaly and severely-disturbed desert-steppes. Based on species composition and abundance, cluster analysis grouped carabid beetles according to the level of habitat disturbance. The carabid assemblage in Caragana microphylla shrubs was more similar to that of grassland with Artemisia blepharolepis and Clycyrrhiza uralensis and fence grazing dominated by Caragana microphylla and Cynanchum komarovii, that of Agropyron mongolicum grassland was similar to that of mixed plantation with Artemisia scoparia and Clycyrrhiza uralensis. Monthly catch of carabid abundance reached a peak in August, with monthly variation in species recorded between transects. Pterostichus gebleri peakedin August, Harpalus salinus in August and September, Pseudotaphoxenus brevipennis in May and August, Pseudotaphoxnus mongolicus from July to October. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) explained 100% of the correlation between species and five environmental variables, suggesting that the occurrence of many species was related to changes in ecological conditions. Among the five factors, the soil water content, the plant biomass and plant density were the major factors affecting on the composition and spatial distribution of carabid beetles in the desert steppe. According to the correlation analysis, we also found that some environmental characteristics, i.e., soil water content, plant biomass and plant density, significantly affected species composition and abundances. Additionally, soil water content was negatively correlated to Shannon diversity and evenness, and positively correlated to Simpson's dominance. Based on these results, we conclude that the appropriate pressure of human disturbance has significantly contributed to the reestablishment and maintenance of the diversity of carabid in the studied area.