Leaf litter decomposition plays an essential part in the nutrient dynamics of forest ecosystems. It is influenced by three major interrelated factors: litter quality, temperature, and soil biotic and abiotic properties. Studies found evidence that the soil associated with a plant species can have a positive effect on the decomposition rates of even that species’ litter, so-called “home-field advantage” effect. The effect’s magnitudes and mechanisms are not well understood yet. The current study focuses on decomposition pattern of Fagus crenata and Abies mariesii (beech and fir) in their mixed forest along an elevation gradient between 800 and 1000 m a.s.l. on Mt. Hakkoda, Aomori prefecture, Japan. In a previous study, fir litter was found to decompose slower in the beech than the fir forest, in spite of warmer temperatures in the beech forest (Kurokawa et al. unpub.). In this study we setup an in-situ litterbag experiment to observe the influence of both species on soil properties and each species’ litter decomposition pattern with changing elevation. In this presentation, we show and discuss the found species-specific soil properties and relate them to the species’ traits.