Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)

AUS-TMI-CON-SOC General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

2.5 %

Direction: Higher is desirable ↑

Form: Point

Scoring Curve

Scoring curve unavailable

The scoring engine could not generate a curve for this benchmark context. The primary form is Point, but the benchmark data may be missing required fields (e.g., optimal range bounds for an OptimalRange benchmark). This is typically a data quality issue in the benchmark pipeline.

Evidence & Context

The reference SOC value for the Finley soil type is 2.5% as derived from the Whitsunday Coast soil survey.

Metric Definition:

Soil Organic Carbon percentage in the top 0-10 cm of soil under natural vegetation.

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark represents the percentage of organic carbon in the top 0-10 cm of Finley soil under natural vegetation in the Tropical & Subtropical Maritime Islands biome, indicating healthy soil organic carbon levels for conservation areas.

Justification:

The benchmark values are derived from a proxy dataset from the Whitsunday Coast area, representing natural vegetation conditions in the Tropical & Subtropical Maritime Islands biome. Lower critical thresholds are defined as approximately 50% loss from the benchmark, reflecting significant degradation.

Sources (1)

Soil and Land Suitability of the Whitsunday Coast area, Central Queensland Journal

Soil and Land Suitability of the Whitsunday Coast area, Central Queensland

View Source

Context

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

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 4 Jun 2026

Notes

Lower Critical Threshold: 1.25 %. No upper detrimental threshold — higher values are always better up to natural saturation. The optimal range is defined as 1.5% to 2.5%.

Related Benchmarks

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