Study of the effect of land use on soil quality indexes, obtain the possibility of identifying sustainable management methods and, consequently preventing the increasing degradation of this non-renewable resource. The type of land uses is one of the most important factors affecting soil sustainability. The conversion of natural rangeland and forest into agricultural sites cause changes in soil structure, quantity and quality of organic matter and bulk density, and may modify water infiltration into soil, hydraulic properties, water repellency, runoff and soil erosion. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of converting enclosed pastures into gardens and different degree (moderate and sever) of grazing sites on soil characteristics around the Zayandehrud Dam in Isfahan Province. For this purpose, a total of 64 soil samples were taken from two depths of 0-5 and 5-20 cm from bare land, almond gardens, severe and medium grazing locations from around the Zayandehrud Dam. Laboratory measurements including texture, bulk density, total porosity, aggregate stability, water repellency, penetration resistance, hydraulic properties (i.e. saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil water retention curve), EC and pH of saturated extract, organic matter, total nitrogen, absorbing phosphorus and soil microbial respiration. Bulk density, aggregate stability, water repellency, saturated hydraulic conductivity, FC, PWP, absorbable phosphorus and soil microbial respiration the highest amount in order 1.8 ( g/cm 3 ), 0.58 (mm) ،4.72 (cm/s 0.5 ) , 0.27 (cm/min), 29 %, 19 %, 0.57 (mg/kg), 1741 (cm/min). The amount of organic matter, penetration resistance, total nitrogen were the lowest amount in order 0.52 %, 791 kPa, 0.048% for the rangeland site with severe grazing. The highest amount of organic matter and total nitrogen were found for the almond garden with 1.33 %, 0.078 % respectively. The lowest amount of microbial respiration 1477 (cm/min) was related to the use of almond garden. Analysis of variance (p 0.05) showed significant interaction effect between depths and land-use change for the amount of organic matter and absorbable phosphorus. Generally, result of this study showed the organic matter, total nitrogen and absorbable phosphorus decrease from surface to depth and the rate of microbial respiration increased accordingly. The reason could be the activity of micro-organisms at the lower depth of 5-20 cm. The results of water repellency with contact angle (between 0 and 90 °) showed that the soil of the studied area was known as subcritical hydrophobic. Overall, the findings indicated that soil physical, chemical and biological characteristics were significantly affected by the land use type; intensive grazing in the rangelands has severely reduced soil quality. Keywords: Soil quality, Change land use, Aggregate stability, Water repellency, Hydraulic properties, Organic matter, Microbial respiration