-The present work fits into a general study on nutrient cycling in four Quercus pyrenaica oak forests and one Castanea sativa chestnut coppice located in the Sierra de Gata mountains (Central System, western Spain). The work consists of an estimation of bioelement supplies to the soil by the litter of these species and by throughfall from the canopy with a view to defining their role in the soil and, more generally, in ecosystem bioelement dynamics. It is concluded that the greatest differences between the oak stands and the chestnut coppice lie in the fact that in the latter ecosystem potentially more N, P, K, Mg, Na and Mn return through the litter owing to greater production in the chestnut coppice (and/or root uptake). Additionally, the relative importance of some bioelements (N, P, K and Mn) in the chestnut coppice is different from that of the oak forests. It is also possible to differentiate three groups of bioelements: 1) those that potentially return almost exclusively through the litter (C and N); 2) those for which both litter and throughfall must be taken into account to determine the potential return of bioelements (Ca, Mg, P, K, Fe and Mn); and 3) those that return almost exclusively through canopy leaching (Na, Cu and Zn). Despite this, on attempting to calculate the actual minimum annual returns, the three groups must be reduced to two: bioelements that almost exclusively return by throughfall (Na, Cu and