Litters are the important component of forest ecosystem and play a key role in ecosystem nutrient cycle.The mineralization of nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients from plant litters provides an important input of inorganic nutrients to the soil, which can be taken up by plants. Soil microbial communities are one of the important factors controlling the dynamics of nutrient mineralization or immobilization during decomposition. However, different litters have different impacts on soil microbial communities. To understand the responses of soil microbial community composition to different litter decomposition, the PLFAs (phospholipid fatty acids) compositions of the soil microbial communities under three typical broadleaf species treatments, including camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora), white oak (Quercus fabri) and blue Japanese oak (Cyclobalanopsis glauca) were studied by the simulation experiment with flowerpots at the Ecological Benefit Monitoring Station of the Yangtze River Protection Forest, which is located in Hengyang County of southern Hunan Province. The results showed that: (1) the initial nitrogen content of three broadleaf litters ranked as follows: white oak >camphor tree >blue Japanese oak, however the initial content of carbon and lignin, and the carbon-nitrogen ratio, lignin-nitrogen ratio had inverse trend: blue Japanese oak >camphor tree >white oak. And the white oak litter had the highest decomposition rate, followed by camphor tree and blue Japanese oak. (2) During litter decomposition, the PLFAs compositions of the soil microbial communities under three litter treatments had similar tendency: the concentrations of 18 ∶ 0, 14 ∶ 0, 16 ∶ 1ω7c, 18 ∶ 1ω7c, cy19 ∶ 0, i19 ∶ 0 and 10Me19 ∶ 0 decreased gradually, and the concentrations of 16 ∶ 0, 15 ∶ 0, i16 ∶ 0, a17 ∶ 0, 17 ∶ 0, 18 ∶ 2ω6,9c and 10Me18 ∶ 0 increased step by step. Three stress indicators, the saturated PLFA to monosaturated PLFA ratio (SAT/MONO), the Gram-positive bacteria to Gram-positive bacteria ratio (G⁺/G^-) and the cy19 ∶ 0/18 ∶ 1ω7c ratio of the soil microbial community increased significantly with the decomposition of three kind of litters. (3) The concentrations of 16 ∶ 0, 15 ∶ 0, a15 ∶ 0, i16 ∶ 0, a17 ∶ 0, 17 ∶ 0, cy19 ∶ 0, 18 ∶ 2ω6,9c, 18 ∶ 1ω9c and 10Me18 ∶ 0, the PLFA of bacteria and fungi and the total PLFA of microbial community in soils treated with white oak litters were significantly higher than those of camphor tree and blue Japanese oak during the two periods. The soil microbial community structure changed significantly during the decomposition of broadleaf litters. Comparing with camphor tree litter and blue Japanese oak litter, the litters of white oak had lower carbon-nitrogen ratio, lignin-nitrogen ratio, and decomposed more quickly, which improved the soil microbial community structure significantly. Our results suggested that white oak litter was more suitable for soil fertility improvement and the nutrient cycle in forest ecosystem, comparing with camphor tree litter and blue Japanese oak litter.