Soil quality conservation and improvement are essential for the promotion of ecosystem service functions. In this study,to understand the vertical zonal differentiation of soil fertility quality in mountainous areas,an elevation gradient along the granite Dawei Mountain in eastern Hunan Province was selected. Topsoil samples from the 21 surveyed plots were collected for the investigation,and 14 indices of soil physiochemical properties were analyzed(sand content,silt content,clay content,bulk density, pH value,organic matter content,total nitrogen content,total phosphorus content,total potassi...