Abstract: Combining ArcGIS with the Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), we examined the temporal and spatial dynamics of soil conservation in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) from 1990 to 2015, and analyzed the effects of climatic, hydrologic, topographic, and social factors on soil retention. The mean annual soil conservation was 5.79×10⁹ t (1004.23 t·hm^-2) in the TGRA during 1990-2015. Soil conservation services in forests, shrubs, grasslands, cropland, and unused land were successively declined. In the past 25 years, the value of soil conservation per unit area in the TGRA fluctuated within the range of 818.73-1280.50 t·hm^-2, with the highest value in 2000. The soil conservation service was higher in the northeast but lower in the southwest, the bank area of the Yangtze River, and the main urban area of Chongqing. Soil holding capacity first increased and then decreased with increasing altitude, with the strongest capacity in the areas of 1000-1500 m above sea level. Soil holding capacity gradually increased with the slope. Elevation, slope, annual precipitation, and vegetation cover contributed greatly to changes in soil retention. Anthropogenic disturbance was the main driving force for changes of soil retention. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen ecological protection and restoration, implement coordinate management, reduce anthropogenic disturbance, in order to improve the ecologicalsecurity in the TGRA.