To investigate the soil microbial characteristics under different successional stages at the Holocene-Basalt Platform, Jingpo Lake area, Northeast China, we carried out the research under six typical vegetation types, i.e. herbs, dwarf shrubs, highbush, shrubs mixed with small trees, deciduous broadleaf and conifer mixed with broadleaf. We conducted plant community survey, and measured soil physiochemical properties, soil microbial biomass, community-level substrate utilization characteristics (BIOLOG EcoPlates^TM) and microbial community structure (Phospholipid Fatty Acid Profiles PLFA). Significant differences existed among vegetation types. Under herb soil (in the early stage of succession), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), bacterial biomass, fungal biomass, metabolic activity (Average Well Color Development,AWCD) and the richness index were the lowest, while the Shannon-Wiener Diversity index was significantly (P<0.05) higher than other vegetation types. The structure of soil microbial community was influenced by dwarf shrub. Dwarf shrub soil had the highest actinomycete biomass (34.2 nmol/g), which might be relevant to the dominant leguminous shrub species, Lespedeza daurica. Highbush soil and shrub mixed with small tree soil were similar in microbial biomass, PLFA composition, metabolic activity, functional diversity indexes, and slight difference existed in types of carbon sources utilized. Deciduous and broadleaf soil had the highest metabolic activity, richness index and ability of carbon utilization, which was in accordance with its high total microbial biomass and bacterial biomass. At the final stage of succession, fungal biomass of conifer mixed with broadleaf soil increased, and soil pH was the lowest. Vegetation might mediate soil microbial functional diversity by effecting soil phosphorous and soil organic carbon in our study. However, there were no significant (P>0.05) relationship between herb layer diversity and soil microbial functional diversity, and further studies were needed to recover the complex interactions between herb layer and soil microbial functional diversity.