Biomass,carbon and nitrogen storage of five different forest types,including shrub layer,herb layer and litter,and their distributions of P.armandii(HSS),P.yunnanensis(YNS),Keteleeria evelyniana (DYS),Q.aquifolioides(GSL)and Evergreen broad-leaf (CL)ecosystems,were studied in subalpine of middle Yunnan Province by using standard plot sampling and biomass measurements.The results showed that:(1)among the five typical forest communities,the ranges of shrubs,herbs and litter biomass were 1.47~11.19 t/hm~2,0.01~0.63 t/hm~2 and 7.85~46.73 t/hm~2,respectively;(2)the ranges of carbon and nitrogen storages of the shrub layer were 0.77~5.94 tC/hm~2 and 10.97~92.84 kgN/hm~2,and the main vegetative organs of carbon and nitrogen storages were stem and leaf;the ranges of carbon and nitrogen storage in herb layer were 0.01~0.29 tC/hm~2 and 0.07~5.35 kgN/hm~2;carbon and nitrogen storages in different forest shrub layers decreased in the order:overground part>underground part;the ranges of litter were 2.15~13.03 tC/hm~2 and 42.07~320.58 kgN/hm~2,and the carbon and nitrogen reserves varied with the degrees of decomposition;(3)carbon storages of the shrub and litter of five typical forests followed the order:CL>YNS>DYS>HSS>GSL;nitrogen reserves followed the order of:CL>YNS>DYS>GSL> HSS.In conclusion,higher carbon and nitrogen storage capacities of undergrowth layers were founded in P. yunnanens and Evergreen broad-leafforest,carbon and nitrogen storage potential of Keteleeria evelyniana was relatively larger.The quality and density of forest should be improved,the protection and management should be intensified,and scientific and feasible forest management measures should be formulated.This study would provide theoretical support for the collaborative development between undergrowth and upper trees and the future research of response of the undergrowth to the global climate change.