Fungal:Bacterial Ratio
Benchmark Value
Scoring Curve
This curve shows how a field measurement for this indicator would score across all available benchmark forms in this context.
Evidence & Context
a range of 1.0 to 2.0 (unitless, PLFA/DNA biomass basis assumed for this inference) could be cautiously proposed for relatively undisturbed, healthy sub-alpine forest soils.
The ratio of fungal biomass to bacterial biomass (F:B ratio) is an integrated ecological indicator that reflects the balance between these two major decomposer groups.
This benchmark represents a cautiously inferred indicative range of fungal to bacterial biomass ratio for relatively undisturbed, healthy sub-alpine forest soils in the Australian Alpine and Subalpine Complex under production forestry.
This inference draws primarily from the Wu et al. (2003) value of 1.65 (from respiration) in a sub-alpine coniferous forest, the general ecological principle that healthy forests are more fungal-dominated than grasslands, and the understanding that F:B ratios in disturbed systems are often around or below 1.0.
Sources (1)
(PDF) Spatial changes of soil fungal and bacterial biomass from a ..., accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourceSupporting Sources (20)
Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.
Mechanisms and implications of bacterial–fungal competition for soil resources - PMC, accessed July 23, 2025
View SourceFungal-rich Compost Paired with Cover Cropping | Mosca-Hooper Conservation District, accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourceBiogeographical patterns of the soil fungal:bacterial ratio across France - PubMed Central
View SourceFungal communities are more sensitive to the simulated environmental changes than bacterial communities in a subtropical forest: the single and interactive effects of nitrogen addition and precipitation seasonality change - ResearchGate, accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourceFungal community structure and function shifts with atmospheric nitrogen deposition | Request PDF - ResearchGate, accessed on June 5, 2025
View Source
Tagged with ratio of fungi to bacteria - The Prairie Ecologist, accessed July 21, 2025
View SourceFungal/bacterial ratios in grasslands with contrasting nitrogen management - ResearchGate
View Sourcewww.researchgate.net, accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourceVariation in Soil Bacterial and Fungal Community Composition at Different Successional Stages of a Broad-Leaved Korean Pine Forest in the Lesser Hinggan Mountains - MDPI, accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourceInternational Journal of Wildland Fire - CSIRO PUBLISHING, accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourceMechanisms and implications of bacterial–fungal competition for soil resources | The ISME Journal | Oxford Academic
View Sourcetheaustralianalpsnationalparks.org, accessed on June 5, 2025
View Source(PDF) Precipitation, rather than temperature drives coordination of multidimensional root traits with ectomycorrhizal fungi in alpine coniferous forests - ResearchGate, accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourcePrincipal role of fungi in soil carbon stabilization during early pedogenesis in the high Arctic | PNAS, accessed on June 5, 2025
View Source
Reshaping forest management in Australia to provide nature-based solutions to global challenges - Talking Timber, accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourceRole of Soil Fungus | Ohioline - The Ohio State University, accessed on June 7, 2025,
View SourceSoil Bacterial and Fungal Composition and Diversity Responses to Seasonal Deer Grazing in a Subalpine Meadow - MDPI, accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourceSoil microbial community composition and function are closely associated with soil organic matter chemistry along a latitudinal gradient | Request PDF - ResearchGate, accessed on June 5, 2025
View SourceSoil Conservation in Alpine Catchments - The Kosciuszko Huts Association, accessed August 17, 2025,
View SourceThe Australian Alps Bioregion - Environment and Heritage, accessed on May 27, 2025,
View Source