The changes of soil organic matter content and protease activity at different elevation gradients in Mudanfeng Nature Reserve were studied,and the effects of human disturbance on them were discussed.The results showed that human disturbance reduced soil organic matter content and protease activity.Among them,the content of soil organic matter increased with altitude,decreased with sampling depth,and farmland was significantly lower than forest soil,there were significant differences.Soil protease activity fluctuated with the increase of altitude,which was lower in farmland than that in forest soil.Except that the soil in soybean field was higher than that in larch plantation at altitude of 350 m.The activity of soil protease decreased with the increase of sampling depth except that the soil increased with the increase of sampling depth.The correlation analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between soil protease activity and organic matter content at 800 m elevation,but no significant correlation between other soil protease activities and organic matter content.