The artificial forests existing in southern subtropical China consist chiefly of China fir and pines.Continuous reforestation of coniferous trees has resulted in the deterioration of soil conditions and decreased the production of forestry.For improvement of the forest soil and production of forestry,a three-year location experiment on material cycling of the establishing artificial forests of Cunninghamia lanceolata,Pinus massoniana,Schima wallichii and Eryahro-phloeum tordii on lateritic red earth in Nanning was conducted.Results of the experiment showed that the four types of forest trees differed from each other both in characteristics of biological material cycling and in amounts of litter.The mean annual amount of litter of coniferous trees was less than 4t/ha,whereas that of broadleaf trees such as Schima wallichii and EryzhropTzloes,m,fordii was more than 6.3 t/ha.In litter coniferous trees,Ca,Mg and Si as its essential nutrient elements,made up 60-80% of total ash,these elements being usually no Hacking in soil itself,while the litter of broadleaf trees conrained considerable amounts of N,P and K in addition to Ca,Mg and Si.Each year,China fir returned to the soil 118.5 kg of ash and,nitrogen per hectare in the form of litter,Pinup massoniana 79.5 kg/ha,Schima wallichii 168.1 kg/ha,and Erythrophloeum fordii 304.8 kg/ha.