Abstract: Mangrove forest has high productivity of litterfall, which is affected by latitude, tide, seawater salinity, and meteorological parameters, and presents an obvious seasonal variation pattern. The mangrove litterfall has four fates, i.e., (1) ingested by benthic fauna, mainly crabs and gastropods, (2) directly decomposed by microorganisms, (3) exported to other adjacent ecosystems in the forms of dissoluble organic matter or fresh plant parts such as leaves or propagules, and (4) deposited into mangrove sediments in the forms of less soluble or synthesized materials. The previous studies on the mangrove litterfall in China were mostly qualitative rather than quantificational, and thus, lacked in well understanding the relative importance of the each fate. Furthermore, some of the previous studies ignored the roles of benthic fauna. It was proposed that in the future studies, more attention should be paid to the openness and dynamic natures of mangrove ecosystem, the quantificational tracing of the fates of mangrove litterfall, and the roles of benthic fauna in the turnover of mangrove litterfall.