Abstract: The litter mass in Cryptocarya concinna, Lindera chunii community belonging to monsoon evergreen broad-leaf forest in the Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve was 12.16 and 6.58t·ha-1 yr-1, investigated from February 1989 to January 1990 and from June 1990 to May 1991. The litter mass not only varied in different months and years, but also varied in the same month of different years due to the influence of climatic fluctuations.The rate of litter decomposition was determined by natural decomposition method Ⅰ and Ⅱ. The results were 72.4 and 70.2%, respectively. There was no significant difference by t-test. The rate of litter decomposition determined by using the nylon bag method was 64.9%, which was lower than that by natural decomposition methods because nylon networks prevented some animals from entering the nylon bags. The mass and nitrogen content in the litter layer at the beginning of our experiment were 2.87t·ha-1 and 36.63kg·ha-1, respectively. On the other hand, the amount of yearly nitrogen input to the litter layer by litterfall during the experimental period was 172.19kg·ha-1. However, there were only 4.3t·ha-1 of litter mass and 55.2kg of nitrogen in litter layer at the end of the experiment. Therefore, 153.57kgN·ha-1·yr-1 was released from litter layer to the soil. The amount of nitrogen released from litter decomposition is 71% of the nitrogen requirement for vegetation growth