Abstract: In this paper forests on water conservation, the litter amount and the water holding characteristic under three stand ages were studied. The results showed that the order of litter amount was near mature forest>haft-aged forest>young forest, and the litter amount of each stand age was 32.20,30.59,22.27 t/hm2 respectively. The water-holding capacity of litters was obviously different in the different types of litters of the same stand. The orders were broadleaves, needles, fruits, branches, barks. The water absorption speed of the litter decreased with immerse time increasing. The fast speed in 0-30 min. The relationship between the water absorption speed of the litter and the immerse time was analyzed by SPSS 13.0. The equation was S=ktn. The maximum water-holding capacity increased with the increase of stand ages. It was 53.28 t/hm2 in young forest,71.91 t/hm2 in half-aged forest,77.49 t/hm2 in near-mature forest,with the equivalent water depth 5.33,7. 19, 7.75 ram, respectively.