Abstract:Aims The purpose of the study was to determine the biomass (including fine roots), NPP, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf area index (LAI), and soil nutrients of Woodwardia japonica community under artificial coniferous forest in Jiangxi Province in subtropical China. Methods Plants in quadrats were harvested and dry weight was measured. Leaf area was measured by scanning, and SLA was represented by the ratio of dry matter to leaf area. LAI of the population was estimated by SLA and leaf biomass. Important findings The relationships between aboveground biomass (W1) and geometric parameters of W. japonica were established (W1=0.021H1.545 （R2=0.790）and W1=2.518（D2H）0.616（R2=0.894）, H: height; D: diameter ). The biomass of herbage and shrub under coniferous plantation was 367.8 g•m－2（52－932 g•m－2）, 4.7% of canopy layer. The accumulated litter under forest was 1 631 g•m－2（672－2 763 g•m－2 ）. The above-and under-ground biomass of W. japonica community were 266.6 g•m－2 and 212.6 g•m－2, respectively. In total, the biomass of W. japonica population approximately accounted for 73.7% of the whole herbaceous layer. There was a significant negative-correlation between SLA and leaves dry matter content （LDMC ）. A leaf area (S) model was established in the form of S=21.922 6-0.152 L2+0.000 9L3（9.0≤L: max length of leaf ≤ 23.5;1.4 ≤ W: max width of leaf ≤5.9）.LAI ofW. japonica population was estimated as 1.8 m2•m－2. Soil water content affected biomass of the community. A positive correlation between biomass and soil nitrogen concentration or soil organic matter (SOC) was identified.