Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)

AUS-TSR-AGR-SOC General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

1.2 %

Direction: Higher 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.

Evidence & Context

They defined soils with less than 1.2% SOC as "low fertility" and demonstrated that these soils exhibited the lowest grain yields and the poorest agronomic efficiency in response to fertilizer application.

Metric Definition:

Critical lower boundary of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) below which soil function is impaired

Benchmark Definition:

Threshold below which soil biological and chemical machinery is fundamentally impaired.

Justification:

Direct data-driven evidence linking SOC value to failure of fundamental ecosystem services in agricultural context.

Sources (1)

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

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

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

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Supporting Sources (3)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

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

Direct Evidence Journal

Soil | Australia state of the environment 2021

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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

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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

Direct Evidence 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

Context

Region Australia
Biome Tropical & Subtropical Rainforests
Land Use Agricultural Crop Production
Assessment Not Stated
Evidence Type DegradationThreshold

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 5 Jun 2026

Notes

No upper detrimental threshold — higher values are always better up to natural saturation. Below this level, nutrient cycling efficiency and crop response to inputs are critically impaired, leading to a dysfunctional state. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

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