Abstract: Taking the herbaceous plant leaf and soil in the typical riparian zone in Taihu Lake basin as the objects, this paper studied the plant and soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in three adjacent land use types (forest land, cropland, and village), and approached the variation patterns of the plant and soil C, N, and P and their stoichiometry. In the cropland of the riparian zone, the soil total phosphorus (TP) content was significantly lower than that in the forest land and village, while the 0-10 cm soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents in the forest land were the highest. The plant leaf total carbon (TC), TN, and TP contents in cropland were significantly higher than those in forest land and village, with a variation pattern different from the that of soil TC, TN, and TP contents. The plant leaf TN content was the highest in cropland, but the plant leaf C:N ratio was significantly lower than that in village. Cropland soil had the highest C:P and N:P ratios, but its C:N ratio was relatively stable. The C:N ratio in 0-10 cm soil layer was significantly higher in forest land than in cropland and village. It was suggested that human disturbance strongly affected the accumulation of litter and the nutrient retention capacity of surface soil. The plant leaf and soil showed different patterns of the nutrient contents among the three land use types, which could be related to the nutrients speciation in manure and the nutrient retention capacity of plant and soil. The plant nutrient limitation status was in consistency among these land use types. The higher surface soil layer C:N ratio in forest land indicated its lower decomposition rate of soil carbon and lower mineralization rate of soil nitrogen.