Abstract:The amount of litterfall, its decomposition and effects on the soil organic carbon and nutrient in artificial forests were studied experimentally at the Ecological Experiment Station of Red Soil, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Results show that the amount of litterfall was annually about 2000～2200kg·hm-2. The annual amounts of N, P, K returned to soil from litterfall were 17～23kg·hm-2, 1.1～1.3kg·hm-2and 1.8～4.3kg·hm-2, respectively. The decomposition rates of litter from Quercus chenii, Pinus massoniana , Imperata cylindrica var. major and Arundinella setosa were annually 45.4 %, 40.3 %, 27.2 % and 31.0 %, respectively. Under the cycle level of experimental period, soil organic carbon in artificial forests had annually a greater amount formed than that mineralized. The adoption of agroforestry could increase significantly total biomass and biomass returnable by 50 %. The contents of soil organic carbon of different treatments at an equilibrium were 10.7g·kg-1 under Quercus chenii, 13.6g·kg-1 Pinus massoniana, 10.5g ·kg-1 mixtrue, 10～16g·kg-1 agroforestry. Clearing of litterfall would decrease significantly the content of soil organic carbon and nutrient.