Abstract:Study on soil and water loss affected by landuse/cover under different rainfall types plays a significant role in soil erosion cont rol and vegetation restoration , which can give scientific guidance to the practice. Based on 14 years of measurements in the experimental hydrologic plots , different rainfall patterns were classified. Precipita-tion amount , duration and maximum 30 min intensity were selected as the comprehensive index to divide the local rainfall events into three different patterns. Generally , pattern 1 is the aggregation of those with medium intensi-ties , durations and amounts. Pattern 2 is the aggregation of rainfall events with such features as high intensities and short durations. Pattern 3 is the aggregation of those with low intensities and long durations. Accordingly , runoff and erosion features of five landuse types governed by these three rainfall patterns , as well as their features in different years , are all stressed. The main results are shown as follows. Firstly , from the static point of view , the lands characterized by the mean runoff coefficient s and mean erosion moduli are in the order of seabuckthorn > natural grass > Chinese Pine > alfalfa > wheat . The reason why alfalfa land has severe runoff and erosion may be re-lated to its growing characteristics and human disturbance. Secondly , runoff and erosion under rainfall pattern 2 hold the most serious position , followed by pattern 1 and pattern 3. This means that rainfall events with high in- tensities and shorter durations play dominant roles in causing soil and water loss in the semiarid area. Lastly , perennial plants such as seabuckthorn and Chinese pine show a very clear trend that runoff coefficients and erosion modulus decrease with time. Soil and water loss is serious in the first several years after plantation , then decreases obviously and get s stable at a lower level. Therefore , more attention should be paid to the different stages of vege2 tation succession.