ABSTRACT
In forest ecosystems, vegetation requires many chemical elements to live and grow. The minerals that are taken up into the forest trees are eventually returned to the surface of the forest soil by litterfall. Leaves are usually major contributor to the litterfall. Decomposition of the litterfall is one of the most important stages in the biogeochemical cycle of forest ecosystems. The decomposition rate determines the rate at which nutrients become available for renewed uptake by the vegetation. During the decomposition process, content of nutrient elements in the litter will increase and/or decrease because of soil organism activities and environmental factors. Therefore it is necessary to carry out research on the decomposition process of plant litter.
The research entitled : "dynamics of nutrient element contents during decomposition of leaves of seven tree species" was carried out to clarify the dynamics of such nutrient element contents as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) during the decomposition process of seven tree species leaves under the forest stand dominated by legume trees. Some results from this research could be summarized as follows : The N contents in leaves of Pinus merkusii and Melaleuca letï´adyndron had a tendency to decrease, while on the other hand, those in leaves of Gmelina arborea, Gkrecidea maculata and Paraserianthesfakataria obviously showed increases. In the leaves of P. merkusii, M. leucadendron and G. arborea, the P contents had inconsistently a tendency of increases and decreases, while in P. falcataria and G. maculata tended to increase. The K contents in P. merkusii, Eucalyptus urophylla, Acacia mangium, and P. faicataria leaves showed a tendency of increases and decreases, and those in M. leucadendron and G. maculata tended to increase, while those in G. maculata had a tendency to decrease. During the decompositio
