To understand the distribution of nutrients in soil profile and their responses to dramatic land use change, four adjacent land use systems, including natural forest, the resultantly converted Chinese fir plantation, Chinese chestnut orchard, and sloping cropland, were chosen. Those ecosystems were located at an identical landscape unit in the hilly region of Daweishan Mount, northeast Hunan Province. Soil samples of 0-100 cm were collected by soil auger with a 20 cm interval. The pH, soil organic matter, total and available macro-elements (tot...