Abstract: By using litter bag method, a 2-year experiment was made to study the dynamics of litter decomposition and phosphorous and potassium release of Castanopsis eyrei-dominated evergreen broad-leaved forest (EBF), Pinus taiwanensis, Cyclobalanopsis nubium and Castanopsis fabri conife-rous and broad-leaved mixed forest (CBF), and Rhododendron simiarum-dominated mountainous dwarf forest (MDF) in Jinggang Mountain region of Jiangxi Province, China. In each forest, litter bags were placed on soil surface (aboveground treatment, AG) and at the depth of 10 cm (below-ground treatment, BG). An inverse exponential relationship was found between litter decay rate and time for each of the three forests. The average value of the litter mass loss of AG and BG was 50.6% for EBF, 41.7% for CBF, and 40.13% for MDF by the end of first year, and 60.95% for EBF, 57.06% for CBF, and 56.60% for MDF by the end of second year, indicating that the litter decomposition of the forests was faster in first year than in second year. The annual litter loss decreased in the order of EBF>CBF>MDF, and that of AG was significantly higher than that of BG in first year but no significant difference was found in second year. According to the model simula-tion by Olson’s exponential function, it might take 6.8—9.9 years to reach 95% of decay (t_0.95) for the forests investigated, compared with 8—17 years for warm temperate forests and 2-8 years for south subtropical forests. The t_0.95 value of the three test forests increased in the order of EBF<CBF

Key words: Carcelia matsukarehae, Developmental zero, Accumulated temperature, Fecundity, Parameters of life table