Soil Moisture

AUS-AIF-FOR-SMO General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

No specific value — see range

Range: 90 to 100 % VWC

Optimal Range: 90 to 100

Direction: Higher is desirable ↑

Form: OptimalRange

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.

Contributing Benchmarks

CompositeFramework Primary MinimumOnly Guard OptimalRange Guard OptimalRange Guard MinimumOnly Guard Point Guard MinimumOnly Guard

Evidence & Context

This benchmark is defined as: A TERN SMIPS "Proportion Full" index for the 0-90 cm soil profile of 0.9 – 1.0.

Metric Definition:

TERN SMIPS 'Proportion Full' index for the 0-90 cm soil profile representing soil moisture state

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark represents a fully recharged soil moisture profile immediately following an ecologically beneficial flood event in the Arid Inland Floodplains & Ephemeral River Systems under Production Forestry.

Justification:

This state is achieved in healthy, resilient River Red Gum forests subject to overbank flooding every 3-5 years.

Sources (1)

Preview of Quantifying water requirements of riparian river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia – implications for the management of environmental flows

Quantifying water requirements of riparian river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia – implications for the management of environmental flows Journal

Quantifying water requirements of riparian river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia – implications for the management of environmental flows

View Source

Supporting Sources (1)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

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

Contextual Support Journal

Extensive Management Promotes Plant and Microbial Nitrogen Retention in Temperate Grassland | PLOS One - Research journals

View Source

Context

Region Australia
Biome Arid Inland Floodplains & Ephemeral River Systems
Land Use Production Forestry
Assessment Not Stated
Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 7 Jun 2026

Notes

The benchmark is based on the TERN SMIPS 'Proportion Full' index and reflects the peak soil moisture state after a beneficial flood, indicating full recharge of the ecosystem's primary water reserve. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

Other benchmarks in the AUS-AIF-FOR-SMO family.