Soil Nitrogen

AUS-AIF-FOR-SON General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

1000 mg/kg
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 CompositeFramework, 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 derived benchmark for a high-health state is an estimated 1000 mg/kg of total nitrogen in the topsoil (0–30 cm).

Metric Definition:

Total Soil Nitrogen concentration in the topsoil (0–30 cm)

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark represents the estimated total soil nitrogen concentration in the top 30 cm of soil that indicates a high-health state in production forestry within the Arid Inland Floodplains & Ephemeral River Systems biome in Australia.

Justification:

This value is derived from mean total nitrogen values in topsoils (0–30 cm) of uncleared, mature native Eucalyptus and Acacia woodlands in semi-arid Queensland, which serve as the best available proxy for a high-health ecosystem state that sustainable forestry should maintain.

Sources (1)

Preview of Changes in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks following tree clearing were estimated at 32 rangeland sites in central and southern Queensland
Changes in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks following tree clearing were estimated at 32 rangeland sites in central and southern Queensland Journal

Changes in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks following tree clearing were estimated at 32 rangeland sites in central and southern Queensland

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Context

  • Region Australia
  • Biome Arid Inland Floodplains & Ephemeral River Systems
  • Land Use Production Forestry
  • Assessment Pristine Reference
  • Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

  • Status Active
  • Version 1
  • Effective From 24 Mar 2026

Notes

No upper detrimental threshold — higher values are always better up to natural saturation. The data is from a proxy (uncleared native woodland) rather than an active, best-practice forestry operation.