Abstract: In this paper, the decomposition rates of the litter of Pinus tabulaefomis and Quercus variabilis placed in chinese pine plantation on Xi Shem in Beijing have been studied, the results showed that the differance between two kinds of litter was insignificant. The ratio of weight loss of litter placed in chinese pine plantation for 591 days was 24.2-28.06%. The exponential decay model has been used, the litter decomposition rates were estimated 0.190-4).210 g/g/year for Pinus tabulaeformis and 0.176-0.203 g/g/year for Quercus variabilis. The chemical component analysis of litter re- presented that the weight loss of litter was caused by losing gross fat, soluble sugar; tannin, organic carbon initially. The correlation coefficients between the weight loss rate and the net chemical component loss of Pinus tabulaeformis and Quercus variabilis were 0.970 (p<0.05) and 0.982 (p<0.05), respectively.

Key words: Forest, Litter, Decomposition rate, Chemical composition