保水剂作为一种高分子化合物,具有保水、保土、保肥功能。保水剂通过自身保水特性和土壤学作用机制,可改善土壤结构,降低土壤密度,提高土壤抗蚀性,起到水土保持作用。针对保水剂的水土保持功能,通过介绍保水剂的水土保持作用机制、在水土保持应用中的关键因素、水土保持效益以及目前应用中存在的问题,指出保水剂虽具有显著的水土保持效益,但必须结合适宜的保水剂类型、适宜的施用方法和施用量等因素合理使用。认为对于保水剂的研究,应以基础研究为重点,并开发多功能复合保水剂,同时扩大保水剂在水土保持中的应用领域和范围As a high molecular polymer，water holding agents possesses the capability of absorbingwater，soil conservation，and preserving fertilizer． It can improve soil structure，reduce soil bulk density，increase soil erosion resistance and play a role in soil and water conservation by its water-conservingfunction and acting mechanism of soil science． Based on the function of water holding agents on soil andwater conservation，this paper introduced the functional mechanisms of water holding agent，the keyfactors in application processes of soil and water conservation，soil and water conservation effects，andexisting problems in the current application and future research directions． It can be concluded that usingwater holding agents properly had significant effects on soil and water conservation with proper types，application methods and quantity and so on． The multifunctional water holding agents with lower costshould be developed and the application fields and scale should be extended in the further study on soiland water conservation
