Abstract: Pinus massoniana forest, mixed P. massonniana-broadleaved forest, and monsoon broadleaved evergreen forest are the three typical subtropical forests at the succession stages from pioneer community to nearly climax in Dinghushan Nature Reserve in South China. In this paper, the differential patterns of five nutrient elements (K, Ca, Mg, N, and P) in rainfall and its redistribution in these forests were studied. The results showed that after the redistribution of rainfall through canopy, the concentrations of test nutrient elements except Ca in throughfall and stemflow had somewhat increase, especially in stemflow. In all the three forests, the Ca concentration in throughfall was lower than that in rainfall. The nutrient concentrations in throughfall and stemflow didn’t show any significant changes in these forests, but the nutrient inputs in stemflow had an increasing trend with the progress of succession. In addition, the nutrient inputs of throughfall and stemflow were generally higher than those of litter fall, especially in the mixed forest and P. massoniana forest. Our results suggested that rainfall not only played an important role in nutrient transfer from forest canopy to soil, but also supplied necessary nutrients for forest growth, especially for that at early succession stage.

Key words: Eco value level, Broad leaved Korean pine forest, Ecosystem management