The objectives of this study were to compare the nitrogen retranslocation efficiency and the litter substrate quality of eight native and one naturalized herbaceous legume species growing in a periodically burned pine forest of the Georgia Piedmont. A survey of the nine species revealed a wide range of nitrogen retranslocation (8.3–51.9%) from senescent leaf tissue, as well as differences in nitrogen concentrations (0.9–2.5%), C:N ratios (17.7–51.2), and initial lignin contents (8.6–20.1%) of senescent leaves. Intraspecific differences in Desmodiumviridiflorum L., Lespedezahirta L., and Lespedezaprocumbens Michx. were found in the leaf, stem, coarse- and fine-root tissue C:N ratio and in the lignin concentrations. Overall, the litter of these nitrogen-fixing herbaceous legumes is predicted to decompose at moderate rates and may have a significant effect upon the long-term soil organic matter and soil nitrogen accumulations of frequently burned forest sites.
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Hendricks et al. (1992) studied this question.