Severe drought and poor habitat condition cause the great difficulty of vegetation restoration and ecological amelioration in many regions of the world. In order to boost plant survival rate, limit soil erosion and prevent land degradation, many kinds of micro-topography re-establishment measures and land surface preparation methods were conducted in key areas around the globe. Through such ways, surface properties of micro-habitats and vegetation growing conditions were improved to some extent. However, basic research regarding the effects of micro-landform modification on ecosystem and environment still severely lagged behind the huge demands in practice. Many key ecological and environmental consequences and scientific mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, the international and domestic researches on different ecological zones and geographical regions were summarized and analyzed systematically in this study. On the basis of such analysis, progresses on the effects of micro-landform reconstruction on soil features and micro-habitat conditions, surface hydrological process and water balance, vegetation restoration and provided ecosystem services were all reviewed. It was considered that micro-topography modification plays key role in all these effects. Meanwhile, major problems and limitations regarding the recent research were also highlighted, which include that more systematic classification criterion of micro-topography should be enhanced, delayed methods of field measurements and quantitative analysis still remain, and the hydrological effects of micro-topography modification need more concern, and the mechanism of micro-landform modification on vegetation restoration still remain unclear. Consequently, the following aspects should be enhanced in the next steps. First, more attention should be paid to establish the classification system of micro-topography, and take valid measures to make the definition more scientific. At the same time, long term monitoring station should be established for studying the relations between micro-topography, vegetation and eco-hydrological processes across various scales. Furthermore, the ecological and environmental effects of different micro-landform modification measures should be compared and analyzed, which is used for proper selection and optimization of micro-topography modification technologies, and providing scientific basis for enhancing ecosystem services, environmental rehabilitation effectiveness and climate adaptation.