Soil Electrical Conductivity (EC)

AUS-AKW-LVG-SEC General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

0.15 dS/m

Direction: Lower is desirable ↓

Form: MaximumOnly

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 MaximumOnly form drives the primary score, while 3 guard(s) constrain the result.

Contributing Benchmarks

MaximumOnly Primary MaximumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard

Evidence & Context

Based on this evidence, the proposed benchmark for a healthy soil under sustainable grazing in this biome is an $EC_{1:5}$ value of < 0.15 dS/m.

Metric Definition:

Soil Electrical Conductivity (EC) measured as EC1:5 soil-water suspension

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark represents the maximum soil electrical conductivity value indicating a healthy, stable soil condition under sustainable grazing in the Arid Karstic Woodlands & Shrublands biome.

Justification:

Derived from direct field measurements from high-condition reference sites in the Great Western Woodlands dataset (TERN 2013) and aligned with general soil science principles in arid zones.

Sources (1)

Great Western Woodlands BASE Contextual, Soil Physico-Chemical Data 2013 Government

Great Western Woodlands BASE Contextual, Soil Physico-Chemical Data 2013

View Source

Supporting Sources (2)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

Great Western Woodlands SuperSite | Climate Change Impacts - TERN Australia, accessed July 10, 2025,

Contextual Support Government

URBAN FOREST STRATEGY - Your Say South Perth, accessed July 13, 2025

View Source

Understanding soil tests for pastures | Soil | Farm management ..., accessed May 12, 2025

Contextual Support Government

Agriculture Victoria. (2025). Understanding soil tests for pastures. Farm Management.

View Source

Context

Region Australia
Biome Arid Karstic Woodlands & Shrublands
Land Use Livestock Grazing & Pasture
Assessment Not Stated
Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 7 Jun 2026

Notes

Reflects a stable system where management successfully prevents secondary salinization. This benchmark is a target to distinguish healthy, stable systems from those beginning to accumulate salts. No upper detrimental threshold — higher values are always worse beyond this point. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

Other benchmarks in the AUS-AKW-LVG-SEC family.