We made a germination test to study the characteristics of soil seed banks in the different sand dunes (fixed dune, semifixed dune, mobile dune) of Yellow River diversion area waterlevelfluctuating zone (including the flooded, nonflooded and control areas of different sand dunes). This study was conducted to evaluate the seed density, species diversity and horizontal distribution pattern of soil seed banks in areas with different local conditions based on field sampling and an indoor bourgeoning experiment. In order to provide a theoretical basis for the restoration and reconstruction of the surface vegetation in the Yellow River diversion area, we discussed the soil seed bank in waterlevelfluctuating zone of the Yellow River diversion area to guarantee the formation of aboveground vegetation and the succession trend of plant community structure in the future. The results showed that: （1） there were significant differences in the soil seed bank of three waterlevelfluctuating zones, The density of waterlevelfluctuating zone soil seed bank is the following in order: nonflooded area (733 seed perm²)>control area (609 seed perm²)>flooded area (176 seed perm²).（2） The seed density decreased with soil depth. With the intensification and prolonging of flooding, the amount of seeds in top soil (0-5 cm) tended to decrease.（3） A total of 10 species belonging to 4 families and 10 genera were detected in the soil seed bank of flooded area. A total of 14 species belonging to 5 families and 14 genera were detected in the soil seed bank of nonflooded area. A total of 15 species belonging to 5 families and 15 genera were detected in the soil seed banks of control area. Most of them belong to Chenopodiaceae and Poaceae, which were annual and perennial herbage species. It indicated that soil seed banks have little contribution to regeneration and succession of shrub layers. （4） Compared with those in control area，all the species diversity indices, richness indices and evenness indices of the standing vegetation decreased significantly in flooded area， but increased in nonflooded area．And the similarity index between the flooded and nonflooded areas was the highest.