The desert-oasis ecotone is a transition zone between oasis and desert. Desert plants are the buffers against oasis expansion or acceleration of desertification. The soil environment is not only an important factor affecting plant evolution, but also it is an important driving force for the evolution of the whole transition zone. In the desert-oasis ecotone of FuKang, a total of 50 plots in three north-south quadrats were selected, and the quantitative characteristics of the desert plants including coverage, abundance, fresh weight and dry weight were measured. Then, we collected soil samples from the different depths of 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm, and 30-50 cm to analyze its soil moisture content, total salt, pH, total N, total P, total K, and organic matter. Finally, we used redundancy analysis (RDA) to determine the relationships between desert vegetation characteristics and soil environmental factors. By conducting a field investigation of the Gurbantunggut Desert-Oasis ecotone desert plants, this paper tries to discuss the soil factors that drive characteristics of desert plant quantities, using redundancy analysis (RDA) with the application of commonly used plant quantity analysis software Canoco 5.0. The results show that soil moisture content, total N, total P, and organic matter were the main driving forces which affect the characteristics of desert plant quantities. These environmental factors accounted for up to 69% of the variation, whereas the total salt, pH, total K, and the number of desert plants had smaller effects. The order of importance of the four soil factors that drove plant characteristics is:soil moisture > organic matter > total N > total P. The quantitative characteristics of desert plants were positively correlated with soil water content, organic matter, and total P content, but negatively correlated with total N, which reveals that soil water content, organic matter, and total P are all positive driving forces which are favorable to the stability of desert plant communities, while N is a negative driving force that inhibits desert plant growth. In summary, the soil factors that drive desert plant characteristics do not have the same effects; there are differences between positive and negative effects and synergistic maintenance of desert plant community quantitative characteristics, including stability and development.