Keywords: 
• forest ecology /
• dominant species /
• Castanopsis carlesii forest /
• nutrient content /
• leaf /
• Lingshishan

Abstract: Reflecting its adaptability to the environment，leaf nutrient characteristics have been a key point in ecological research field. Very few data were available on nutrient characteristics of subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest species. This research analyzed nutrient characteristics for uneven-aged leaves of a Castanopsis carlesii forest in Lingshishan National Forest Park of Fujian Province. Based on means and standard deviations of logarithmic concentrations for each nutrient，nutrient concentration of each dominant species were classified into four classes. The different classes are as follows：（1） the logarithmic nutrient concentration falls below the mean value minus 2 standard deviation （＜X－2SD）。（2） the nutrient concentration falls between （X－2SD） and X；（3） the nutrient concentration lies between X and （X + 2SD）；（4） the nutrient concentration is above （X + 2SD）. Tree species whose logarithmic concentration of a nutrient falls below the （X－2SD） value is an excluder for that particular nutrient，while if above the （X + 2SD） value，it is an accumulator species for that nutrient. The results showed that leaf nutrient content had a log-normal distribution with most dominant populations located in the second classes. Strong exclusion was noted with P in Ilex elmerrilliana and with Zn in Cyclobalanopsis glauca. Accumulation of K in Schefflera octophylla，Na and K in Diplospora dubia，and N in Pithecellobium clypearia and Lithocarpus glaber were found. However，with uneven-aged leaves，accumulation of two-year-old leaves in the third group were more plentiful than one-year-old leaves. Low nutrient content of leaves for Castanopsis carlesii showed it could grow in a hardscrabble site，and low P in leaves of I. elmerrilliana and low Zn in leaves of Cyclobalanopsis glauca meant they could tolerate this habitat and could be suitable tree species for afforestation.［Ch，3 fig. 3 tab. 31 ref.］