Soil Electrical Conductivity (EC)

AUS-TMI-CON-SEC General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

0.15 dS/m

Thresholds: Lower: —, Upper: 0.4

Direction: Lower is desirable ↓

Form: MaximumOnly

Scoring Curve

This curve shows how a field measurement for this indicator would score across all available benchmark forms in this context. The scoring engine uses 10 benchmarks together — the OptimalRange form drives the primary score, while 9 guard(s) constrain the result.

Contributing Benchmarks

OptimalRange Primary OptimalRange Guard MaximumOnly Guard OptimalRange Guard Point Guard MaximumOnly Guard OptimalRange Guard MinimumOnly Guard OptimalRange Guard MaximumOnly Guard

Evidence & Context

Based on the CSIRO Pacific Islands manual, the "Very low" salinity class is defined by an electrical conductivity of <0.15 dS/m (measured in a 1:5 soil:water suspension, EC1:5).

Metric Definition:

Soil Electrical Conductivity (EC1:5) measured in a 1:5 soil:water suspension

Benchmark Definition:

The 'Very low' salinity class defined by the CSIRO Pacific Islands manual represents the best available soil electrical conductivity condition for conservation areas in Australia's Tropical & Subtropical Maritime Islands biome.

Justification:

This benchmark is derived from a highly analogous and authoritative CSIRO guide, corroborated by qualitative and quantitative data from similar Australian ecosystems.

Sources (3)

Soil Analysis Methods and Results Interpretation ... - CSIRO Research Journal

Soil Analysis Methods and Results Interpretation ... - CSIRO Research

View Source

Preview of Soil Research - CSIRO PUBLISHING, accessed May 16, 2025,

Soil Research - CSIRO PUBLISHING, accessed May 16, 2025, Journal

Litchfield Savanna BASE Contextual, Soil Physico-Chemical Data ...

View Source

Wet Tropics region GLM land types - FutureBeef GreyLiterature

Wet Tropics region GLM land types - FutureBeef

View Source

Supporting Sources (1)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

www.publications.qld.gov.au, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

Measuring soil salinity - The Australian Wine Research Institute

View Source

Context

Region Australia
Biome Tropical & Subtropical Maritime Islands
Land Use Conservation / Protected Natural Areas
Assessment Pristine Reference
Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 21 Mar 2026

Notes

This value represents the best available condition of nature for conservation areas in the biome, indicating a soil profile free from salinisation impacts. ConsistencyResolver applied 2026-03-23 00:16 UTC: UpperThreshold 0.15 → 0.4 (check: MinAboveMax, rationale: Swapping the MaximumOnly UpperThreshold from 0.15 to 0.4 aligns with the Notes indicating 0.4 dS/m as the upper detrimental threshold, resolving the MinAboveMax contradiction.)

Related Benchmarks

Other benchmarks in the AUS-TMI-CON-SEC family.