Organic Matter, N, and Base Accumulation Under Pensacola Bahiagrass

Abstract

A deep and unfertile sandy soil in the Georgia Coastal Plain from which the top soil had been removed was seeded to Pensacola bahiagrass in 1967 and allowed to grow until 1970. No harvests were made, and no fertilizer was applied. When sampled in 1970, the plots under grass contained 23.1% more N than did fallow plots. The soil organic matter content to 12 inches deep in the soil profile had more than doubled under the sod, and bases had been accumulated in the soil surface under sod but were concentrated lower in the soil profile under fallow.