The influence of five tree species on soil acidity and the distribution of carbon and nutrients between biomass and soil were studied in an experiment with 27-year-old stands in three replicates on set-aside farmland in NE Sweden. The five tree species were: Picea abies L. Karst., Pinus sylvestris L., Pinus contorta Dougl., Betula pendula Roth, and Larix sibirica Ledeb. Total tree biomass was 11 kg dw m(-2) in B. pendula and L. sibirica, 10 kg dw m(-2) in P. abies, and 8 kg dw m(-2) in the pines. The foliage of P. abies had a more than eight times higher quantity of Ca, and a more than twice as high quantity of dry weight, Mg, K, P and N, as the foliage of any of the other species. Concentrations of Ca in foliage, branches and stems generally decreased in the order P. abies>B. pendula>L. sibirica, P. sylvestris, P. contorta. The highest amounts of Mg, K, P and N in the stems were found in B. pendula and L. sibirica. The results suggest that the choice of tree species may have a pronounced influence on the rate of nutrient removal both in case of whole-tree harvest and stem-wood harvest, also at similar rates of stem-wood biomass production. However, compared to the large differences found between the species in Ca and K contents of the above-ground part of the trees, the corresponding differences in depletions that were detected in the 'non-harvestable' pools of these elements were smaller. (Non-harvestable pool: total element amounts in coarse tree roots and field vegetation and litter/organic layer, plus exchangeable element amounts in the A horizon). No significant species-related differences in soil pools of C or acidity were found. In the combined litter and organic layer, a significant difference in pH was found; about half a unit higher for B. pendula and P. abies than for P. contorta and L. sibirica. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.