Soil Moisture

AUS-AIF-FOR-SMO General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

30 % VWC

Direction: Higher is desirable ↑

Form: MinimumOnly

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

A persistent 'Proportion Full' index below 0.3, corresponding to a flood-return interval exceeding 5-7 years, indicates severe water stress and risk of ecosystem decline.

Metric Definition:

TERN SMIPS 'Proportion Full' index indicating soil moisture state

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark marks the lower critical threshold of soil moisture below which severe water stress and ecosystem decline risk occur in the Arid Inland Floodplains & Ephemeral River Systems under Production Forestry.

Justification:

This threshold is supported by research showing physiological stress and decline in tree health when soil moisture falls below this level.

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 DegradationThreshold

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 7 Jun 2026

Notes

This threshold corresponds to a flood-return interval exceeding 5-7 years and is correlated with a Leaf Area Index (LAI) less than 0.5. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

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