Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)

AUS-TSR-AGR-SOC General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

1.7 %

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

This system achieved the highest SOC content, measuring 1.7% (reported as 17 mg C g⁻¹ soil).

Metric Definition:

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) content in the 0-10 cm soil layer

Benchmark Definition:

SOC content representing the best available condition of nature for agricultural crop production within Australia's Tropical and Subtropical Rainforests biome.

Justification:

It is a field-measured value from a well-defined, best-practice agricultural system operating within the specified Australian biome, from a recent, peer-reviewed study funded by a major national agricultural research body (GRDC).

Sources (1)

Preview of Farming system legacy impacts on the storage and persistence of soil organic carbon and understanding the different types carbon in northern cropping systems

Farming system legacy impacts on the storage and persistence of soil organic carbon and understanding the different types carbon in northern cropping systems Journal

Farming system legacy impacts on the storage and persistence of soil organic carbon and understanding the different types carbon in northern cropping systems

View Source

Supporting Sources (3)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

$Preview of (PDF) Using active fractions of soil organic matter as indicators of ..., accessed July 19, 2025$

(PDF) Using active fractions of soil organic matter as indicators of ..., accessed July 19, 2025

Direct Evidence GreyLiterature

Using active fractions of soil organic matter as indicators of ...

View Source

Addressing the rundown of nitrogen and soil organic carbon - GRDC, accessed July 25, 2025,

Direct Evidence Journal

Soil | Australia state of the environment 2021

View Source

Preview of critical soil organic carbon range for optimal crop response to mineral fertiliser nitrogen on a ferralsol - ResearchGate, accessed August 3, 2025,

critical soil organic carbon range for optimal crop response to mineral fertiliser nitrogen on a ferralsol - ResearchGate, accessed August 3, 2025,

Direct Evidence

National Soil Strategy

View Source

Context

Region Australia
Biome Tropical & Subtropical Rainforests
Land Use Agricultural Crop Production
Assessment Agricultural Biodiversity Target
Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 5 Jun 2026

Notes

No upper detrimental threshold — higher values are always better up to natural saturation. Represents a high-health, real-world state under active agricultural management, not a theoretical maximum or pristine wilderness value. The largest increase in carbon was found in the occluded Particulate Organic Carbon fraction, indicating a qualitatively superior state of carbon storage.

Related Benchmarks

Other benchmarks in the AUS-TSR-AGR-SOC family.