Microbial Respiration
Benchmark Value
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 4 benchmarks together — the OptimalRange form drives the primary score, while 3 guard(s) constrain the result.
Contributing Benchmarks
Evidence & Context
The derived reference value for a high-functioning production forest is 50 mg CO2-C/kg/day.
Soil microbial respiration rate measured as mg CO2-C released per kg of soil per day.
This benchmark represents the soil microbial respiration rate of a high-functioning, stable production forest ecosystem in tropical and subtropical rainforests, indicating sustainable ecosystem health.
Due to a lack of direct Australian data, this value is based on the total soil respiration rate of an analogous old-growth tropical forest in carbon equilibrium (12.7 Mg C ha−1year−1), serving as an aspirational target for a sustainably managed system. The conversion to mass-based units assumes a soil depth of 0-10 cm and a bulk density of 0.7 g/cm³, representative of North Queensland rainforest soils.
Sources (2)
Maycock, Colin Rulzion (1998) Plant-soil nutrient relationships in ...
View SourceMajor and persistent shifts in below‐ground ... - yadvinder malhi
View SourceSupporting Sources (2)
Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.
(PDF) Impact of temperature and moisture on heterotrophic soil respiration along a moist tropical forest gradient in Australia - ResearchGate, accessed August 4, 2025,
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Reforestation, carbon sequestration and relationships between soil attributes in the Wet Tropics of Australia (Schmidt et al., 2014)
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