Based on field survey on the 161 grids with areas of 625 m2 in Jianfengling of Hainan Province

the water storage

water-holding capacity

water-holding rate and water absorption rate of forest litter were studied in different tropical rainforests(including primary forest

selectively logged forest and clear-cut forest).The results show that in primary forest

selectively logged forest and clear-cut forest

the litter storage was 6.42

6.29 and 6.66 t/hm2

and the max water-holding capacity was 9.55

10.49 and 11.17 t/hm2

respectively.Clear-cut forest has the highest max water-holding rate of 169.2%

followed by selectively logged forest(168.0%)

and primary forest(155.6%).The max water-holding rates in the three forests differed significantly as indicated by the Kruskal—Wallis H test.The water-holding capacity and water-holding rate of litter in all the forests increased logarithmically with soaking time(W=alnt+b).While

the water absorption rates of litter reduced followed equation W=at-b as soaking time increased.