Soil Phosphorus

AUS-TSR-FOR-SOP General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

No specific value — see range
Range: 36.7 to 62 mg/kg
Optimal Range: 36.7 to 62
Direction: Higher is desirable ↑
Form: OptimalRange

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 16 benchmarks together — the OptimalRange form drives the primary score, while 15 guard(s) constrain the result.

Evidence & Context

The total phosphorus (Total P) concentrations in the topsoil (0-30 cm) of these younger, vegetated systems provide a robust baseline for the natural P capital of a healthy system: 36.7 to 62.0 mg/kg Total P.

Metric Definition:

Total phosphorus concentration in topsoil (0-30 cm) representing the long-term P capital of the site.

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark represents the natural range of total phosphorus stock in the topsoil of developing productive subtropical forests on low phosphorus buffering sandy soils.

Justification:

Represents the P stock in a developing, productive subtropical forest on low-PBI sandy soils.

Sources (1)

Preview of Phosphorus Nutrition of Proteaceae in Severely Phosphorus-Impoverished Soils: Are There Lessons To Be Learned for Future Crops? - PubMed Central, accessed August 4, 2025
Phosphorus Nutrition of Proteaceae in Severely Phosphorus-Impoverished Soils: Are There Lessons To Be Learned for Future Crops? - PubMed Central, accessed August 4, 2025 Journal

Australian dryland soils are acidic and nutrient-depleted, and have unique microbial communities compared with other drylands - PMC

View Source

Supporting Sources (2)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

Preview of Soil phosphorus transformations along a 500,000-year coastal dune chronosequence under subtropical rainforest in Australia
Soil phosphorus transformations along a 500,000-year coastal dune chronosequence under subtropical rainforest in Australia
Direct Evidence Journal

Soil phosphorus transformations along a 500,000-year coastal dune chronosequence under subtropical rainforest in Australia

View Source
Preview of Too much of a good thing: phosphorus over-fertilisation in rehabilitated landscapes of high biodiversity value
Too much of a good thing: phosphorus over-fertilisation in rehabilitated landscapes of high biodiversity value
Direct Evidence Journal

Too much of a good thing: phosphorus over-fertilisation in rehabilitated landscapes of high biodiversity value

View Source

Context

  • Region Australia
  • Biome Tropical & Subtropical Rainforests
  • Land Use Production Forestry
  • Assessment Pristine Reference
  • Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

  • Status Active
  • Version 2
  • Effective From 26 Mar 2026

Notes

No upper detrimental threshold — higher values are always better up to natural saturation. This range serves as an excellent reference for the total P capital that a healthy, sustainable production forest should maintain. Accepted by operator on 2026-03-26 02:25 UTC — superseded v1 (#2009)