Vegetation complex system is an important way to enhance biodiversity and foster sustainable ecosystem development. Elucidating interspecific water relationships within these systems is essential for their optimal health and functionality. Using a meta-analysis of 189 observations across 24 published literatures, this study delved into the water use strategies of various components of the vegetation complex system in temperate regions, exploring their correlation with soil moisture across different soil layers. Additionally, it evaluated the water competition intensity (CI) among vegetation in the complex system. The results showed that herbaceous plants predominantly relied on shallow soil water, whereas woody plants primarily utilized water from deeper soil layers. The average water uptake proportion for herbaceous plants from shallow, middle, and deep soil layers was 46.9%, 30.2%, and 22.4% respectively. Conversely, woody plants exhibited a mean water uptake proportion of 27.5%, 35.3%, and 37.2% from the corresponding soil layers. Notably, in the shallow soil layer, herbaceous plants displayed a significantly higher water uptake proportion compared to woody plants (P<0.001). However, in the intermediate and deeper soil layers, herbaceous plants exhibited a significantly lower water uptake proportion than woody plants (P<0.001), indicating a distinct pattern of water utilization strategies among these two plant groups. Compared with the dry season, herbaceous plants increased the proportion of water uptake in the middle layer (+1.8%) and deep layer (+5.0%) while decreased it in the shallow layer (-6.7%) during the rainy season. Woody plants increased the proportion of water uptake in the shallow layer (+4.3%) and middle layer (+2.1%) while decreased the proportion of water uptake in the deep layer (-6.4%). In the shallow and middle layers, the water uptake proportion of herbaceous plants was negatively correlated with soil water content, while it was positively correlated in the deep layer. Conversely, the water uptake proportion of woody plants was positively correlated with soil water content in the shallow layer, but negatively correlated in the middle and deep layers. Notably, the vegetative components exhibited greater hydrological niche separation during the dry season, resulting in a lower interspecific water competition intensity (CI=0.66) compared to the rainy season (CI=0.76). This adaptive mechanism likely aids in mitigating the effects of seasonal drought. Among the various vegetation combinations, the wood-wood combination exhibited the highest CI (0.88), followed by the herb-herb combination (0.71), with the CI of the wood-herb combination demonstrating the lowest (0.62). Therefore, it is recommended to adopt a combination of wood and herb species in temperate composite systems to optimize interspecific water relations. The findings provide valuable scientific guidance for configuring species in temperate vegetation complex system.