Sand-fixing vegetation introduced at the edges of oases strongly affects eco-hydrological processes in arid areas, structuring both above-and belowground biodiversity. However, most of research in this area focuses on the response of vegetation to afforestation in arid ecosystems, and little research has been conducted on soil fauna communities. We studied desert habitat in which Haloxylon ammodendron (HAP) and Tamarix ramosissima (TRP) had been planted in the desert-oasis ecotone and nearby natural desert (ND) at a location near the Zhangye Oasis, and we assessed the composition and diversity of ground-dwelling arthropod communities using pitfall trapping in early May and mid-August. The primary findings of our study are as follows. We found that when sand-fixing vegetation was introduced to the natural desert area, ground-dwelling arthropod abundance decreased, whereas taxa richness and Shannon diversity index increased, particularly in May. Furthermore, the abundance, taxa richness, and Shannon diversity index were significantly higher in communities to which HAP was introduced than in communities to which TRP was introduced. Introduced sand-fixing vegetation caused the activity density of tenebrionid beetles to decrease substantially, whereas the activity density of ants, carabid beetles, and some spiders increased significantly, all of which determine ground-dwelling arthropod assemblages in this ecosystem. We also identified indicator taxa among ground-dwelling arthropods for each type of desert habitat. Tenebrionid beetles function as indicator taxa in ND habitats; members of Trachelipidae function as indicator taxa in HAP habitats; and members of Labiduridae and Lycosidae function as indicator taxa in TRP habitats. In summary, sand-fixing vegetation introduced to sandy desert ecosystems promoted the diversity of ground-dwelling arthropods by providing food sources and habitats, but caused the abundance of certain native taxa to decrease, sometimes to zero.