Bare Ground — Benchmark Detail

Benchmark Value

No specific value — see range

Direction: Lower is desirable ↓

Form: MinimumOnly

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 5 benchmarks together — the OptimalRange form drives the primary score, while 4 guard(s) constrain the result.

Contributing Benchmarks

OptimalRange Primary MaximumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard MinimumOnly Guard

Evidence & Context

Levels above 50% bare ground are widely associated with severe soil degradation, high erosion rates, significant loss of organic matter and nutrients, impaired water relations, and reduced biological activity, leading to a substantial decline in productive capacity and ecosystem function.

Metric Definition:

Bare Ground (%)

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark sets a minimum threshold of 50% bare ground, above which severe soil degradation and loss of ecosystem function occur in Tropical Monsoonal Savannas agricultural systems.

Justification:

Broad consensus in soil conservation literature suggests that once ground cover drops below approximately 50%, the risk of soil erosion increases dramatically, especially on sloping land or under conditions of intense rainfall.

Sources (1)

Preview of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management in Victoria, accessed July 19, 2025

Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management in Victoria, accessed July 19, 2025 Journal

Soil health: the foundation of sustainable agriculture - 2001 ...

View Source

Supporting Sources (3)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

Final report - MLA, accessed July 19, 2025,

Regulatory Framework

Queensland Government target of 70% late dry season ground cover for grazing lands 13

View Source

Ground Cover Monitoring for Australia - DAFF, accessed May 11, 2025

Contextual Support Government

Grazing-management-for-soil-carbon-in-Australia-A-review.pdf - University of Tasmania, accessed April 29, 2025,

View Source

Preview of Regenerative Agriculture - a literature review on the practices and mechanisms used to improve soil health - DPIRD's Digital library, accessed August 5, 2025,

Regenerative Agriculture - a literature review on the practices and mechanisms used to improve soil health - DPIRD's Digital library, accessed August 5, 2025,

Contextual Support

Regenerative Land Management - HEALTHY SOILS AUSTRALIA

View Source

Context

Region Australia
Biome Tropical Monsoonal Savannas
Land Use Agricultural Crop Production
Assessment Conservation Target
Evidence Type DegradationThreshold

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 22 Mar 2026

Notes

Sustained bare ground levels exceeding 50% are indicative of a severely degraded or very poorly managed agricultural system with high risk of irreversible damage. ConsistencyResolver applied 2026-03-23 00:16 UTC: BenchmarkValue 50 → (check: MinAboveOptimalHigh, rationale: Clearing BenchmarkValue to avoid duplication of threshold values and allow the system to use UpperThreshold as the effective threshold.) ConsistencyResolver applied 2026-03-23 00:16 UTC: UpperThreshold → 50 (check: MinAboveOptimalHigh, rationale: The Notes indicate that bare ground levels exceeding 50% represent severe degradation, an upper threshold. Moving the threshold to UpperThreshold will auto-correct the form to MaximumOnly, resolving the contradiction.) ConsistencyResolver applied 2026-03-23 00:16 UTC: BenchmarkValue 50 → 30 (check: MinAboveMax, rationale: Swapping the MinimumOnly threshold to 30 aligns with the note that 'exceeding 30% causes degradation' and resolves the MinAboveMax contradiction.) ConsistencyResolver applied 2026-03-24 19:58 UTC: BenchmarkValue 30 → (check: MinAboveOptimalHigh, rationale: Clearing BenchmarkValue avoids conflicting threshold values in the MinimumOnly benchmark and aligns with the Notes indicating degradation above 50% (already represented by the MaximumOnly benchmark).) ConsistencyResolver applied 2026-03-24 19:58 UTC: UpperThreshold 50 → (check: MinAboveOptimalHigh, rationale: Clearing UpperThreshold removes the misclassified upper degradation ceiling from the MinimumOnly benchmark, preventing penalization of all optimal values and resolving the MinAboveOptimalHigh contradiction.) ConsistencyResolver applied 2026-03-24 19:58 UTC: UpperThreshold 50 → (check: MinAboveOptimalHigh, rationale: Clearing UpperThreshold removes the misclassified upper degradation ceiling from the MinimumOnly benchmark, preventing penalization of all optimal values and resolving the MinAboveOptimalHigh contradiction.)

Related Benchmarks

Other benchmarks in the AUS-TMS-AGR-BAR family.