Impacts of felling, mulching, and burning on budgets of C, N, S, P, K, Ca, and Mg; rates of C0 2 evolution from the soil; soil seed storage; and plant growth were evaluated. The felled tropical evergreen forest was 8-9 yr old, interspersed with patches of 70-yr-old forest and had a leaf area index of 6 and aboveground biomass of 5.2 kg/rn 2 • Harvest of the largest trees removed 18% of the S, and > I 0% of all other elements except N. During the 11-wk mulching and drying period, 33% of the K and 13% of the P disappeared, but losses of other elements were <6%. Burn temperatures were >620°C in surface fuels, but soil temperatures were seldom > l00°C at I ern or >50°C at 2 ern. The burn volatilized 1600 g/rn 2 C, 49 g/rn 2 N, and 13 g/rn 2 S. Postburn wind and water erosion of ash, plus leaching, removed 34 g/rn 2 N, 20 g/rn 2 K, I g/ rn 2 P, 39 g/rn 2 Ca, and 7 g/rn 2 Mg, but insignificant amounts of C and S. After the burn and onset of the rains, 57% of the initial amount of N and 39% of the initial C still remained because of conservation of the organic-rich upper 3 ern of soil.Soil C0 2 evolution was greater from beneath the 11-wk-old slash (3.6 gC· rn-2 • d-1 ) than from beneath the forest (2.5 gC · rn-2 • d-1 ), probably because the slash conserved soil moisture better than the actively transpiring forest. After the burn both the burned field and forest soil evolved C0 2 at =4.5 gC· rn-2 ·d-•. At this rate, 154 d of decomposition and respiration would release as much C into the atmosphere as did the burn.Soil seed storage dropped from =8000 seeds/rn 2 (67 species) in the forest, to 6000 seeds/rn 2 (51 species) after II wk of mulching, to 3000 seeds/rn 2 (37 species) after the burn. The seeds not killed by the burn, the survival of mycorrhizal fungi, and the release of nutrients resulted in vigorous and diverse postburn regrowth.