西部煤矿区生态环境脆弱，叠加高强度开采致使水土流失、土壤退化、根系受损，植物水分利用效率低，生态恢复困难，提高水分利用效率成为西部矿区生态修复或重建的关键。土壤水是限制干旱半干旱煤矿区生态修复的关键因素，它连接大气水、地表水、地下水与植被生长，是水分循环与养分运输的重要载体。土壤水分的高效与合理利用关系到生态修复的成败，因此探究植物根系水分利用策略对于西部煤矿区生态修复具有重要作用。分析了国内外植物水分利用的主要研究方法，比较了不同方法之间的优缺点及相应研究进展。在干旱半干旱煤矿区受损生态环境中，采用植物−微生物联合的微生物修复技术，能提高植物水分利用效率，改善植物水分利用策略。同时，接种微生物降低了植物从浅层土壤吸收水分的比例，有效地增加植物从深层土壤中吸收和利用水分，提升了植物水分利用效率，使接菌植物在干旱半干旱煤矿区表现出更高的生态适应性。分析了目前西部煤矿区植物水分利用的研究进展和存在的问题，探讨了煤矿区微生物修复对水分利用策略的改善，提出了西部干旱煤矿区生态修复中不同植物组合对水分利用策略的影响及其研究重点，为实现矿区绿色可持续、高质量发展奠定了扎实的基础，具有重要的生态应用价值。

The fragile ecological environment in the western coal mining areas of China, compounded by intensive mining activities, has led to water and soil erosion, soil degradation, and damaged root systems. With a low plant water use efficiency, the ecological restoration becomes challenging, making the improvement of water use efficiency a key aspect in the ecological restoration or reconstruction of western mining areas. Soil water is a critical factor limiting the ecological restoration of arid and semi-arid coal mining areas, as it connects atmospheric water, surface water, groundwater, and vegetation growth, serving as an important carrier for water circulation and nutrient transport. Efficient and rational utilization of soil water is crucial to the success of ecological restoration. Therefore, investigating plant root water utilization strategies plays a significant role in the ecological restoration of western coal mining areas. This paper analyzes the main research methods of plant water use at home and abroad, compares the advantages and disadvantages of different methods, and reviews the corresponding research progress. In the damaged ecological environments of arid and semi-arid coal mining areas, the application of plant-microbe combined microbial remediation technology can improve plant water use efficiency and enhance plant water use strategies. At the same time, the microbial inoculation reduces the proportion of water absorption by plants from shallow soil layers, effectively increasing the absorption and utilization of water from deep soil layers by plants, thereby enhancing plant water use efficiency. This enables the inoculated plants to exhibit a higher ecological adaptability in the arid and semi-arid coal mining areas. This paper analyzes the current research progress and existing problems of plant water use in the western coal mining areas, discusses the improvement of water use strategies through microbial remediation in mining areas, and proposes the impact of different plant combinations on water use strategies and their research focuses in the ecological restoration of western arid coal mining areas. This lays a solid foundation for achieving green, sustainable, and high-quality development in the arid and semi-arid coal mining areas, and has important ecological application value.