Abstract: The nutrient balance was determined in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest ecosystem in the Wuyi Mountains from the difference between the precipitation input Of nutrients per hectare and the nutrient output via runoff and drainage per hectare. The results showed that there were large apparent accumulations of nitrogen, calcium, and sulphur, and inputs of magnesium and sodium from the atmospheric precipitation were slightly higher than losses through leaching. Phosphorus appeared to be in close balance in the forest, but there was a net loss of potassium during the period of the study.The weathering of parent material may have played an important role in the potassium economy of the forest. For other nutrients, the forest could maintain itself on nutrient input from the atmosphere.