Experiments were conducted to study the water conservation functions of litter and surface soil under six forest types in mountainous area of Northern Hebei Province.The results show that in terms of effective interception capacity

the rank of litter layers was poplar forest( 32.32 t/hm2)>birch forest(28.59t/hm2)>Mongolian oak forest(20.26t/hm2)>chinese pine-Mongolian oak mixed forest(19.49t/hm2)>Larix principis-rup prechtii forest( 13.53 t/ hm2)>chinese pine forest(13.23t/hm2);in terms of soil maximum water-holding capacity

the order was poplar forest> chinese pine-Mongolian oak mixed forest>birch forest>chinese pine forest>Larix princip is:rupprechtii forest> Mongolian oak forest; regarding soil infiltration characteristics

the rank was chinese pine-Mongolian oak mixed forest> poplar forest> birch forest> chinese pine forest> Mongolian oak forest> Larix principis - rupp rechtii forest.The values of evaluation indices were calculated based on weights that were determined using the method of hierarchy analysis.The evaluation results show that chinese pine-Mongolianoak mixed forest had the best water conservation function

followed in order by poplar forest

birch forest

Mongolian oak forest

chinese pine forest

and Larix principis-rup prechtii forest had the worst.