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The article examines a hypotheses which suggests that as ecosystems mature their ability to conserve nutrients increases. It suggests that the difference between net input and output of a particular element will be proportional to the rate at which that element is incorporated into the net biomass increment for the system. Net biomass increment may be negative at the onset of secondary succession, and thus outputs of elements may be higher than inputs. In general, nutrient incorporation into biomass will increase rapidly in early succession, will reach a maximum, and will slowly decline to zero as a steady state is approached. Conversely, nutrient loss rate will be the complement of the rate of incorporation into biomass for that element.