Bare Ground
Benchmark Value
Scoring Curve
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.
Evidence & Context
An aspirational quantitative target of <10-20% bare ground is recommended for inter-harvest periods in well-managed sites.
Bare ground: areas of the soil surface devoid of vegetation, litter, or biological soil crusts, where the mineral soil is directly exposed to atmospheric elements.
This benchmark represents an aspirational target for bare ground cover in temperate dry woodlands and native grasslands under production forestry during inter-harvest periods, aiming to maintain low bare ground to support ecological health and reduce erosion risk.
Derived from conditions in less disturbed temperate woodlands, aiming for high ecological health and low erosion risk.
Sources (2)
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. (2012, June). Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) Grassy Woodlands and Derived Native Grasslands of south-eastern Australia. Nationally Threatened Ecological Communities.
View Source(PDF) Scientific Assessment of Vegetation Condition Protocols - ResearchGate
View SourceSupporting Sources (6)
Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.
Cunningham, S. A., et al. (2014). Woodland habitat structures are affected by both agricultural land management and abiotic conditions. Landscape Ecology, 29, 1237-1249.
View Source
Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. (2021). Australia State of the Environment 2021: Land.
View Source
Geoscience Australia. (2025, April 30). DEA Fractional Cover (Landsat). Digital Earth Australia.
View Source
Gibbons, P., Briggs, S. V., Murphy, D., Lindenmayer, D. B., McElhinny, C., & Brookhouse, M. (2010). Benchmark stem densities for forests and woodlands in south-eastern Australia under conditions of relatively little modification by humans since European settlement. Forest Ecology and Management, 260(11), 2047-2058.
View SourceGill, T., et al. (2016). A method for mapping Australian woody vegetation cover by linking continental-scale field data and long-term Landsat time series. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 37(24), 5848-5870.
View SourceStewart, S. B., et al. (2025, March 6). Improved estimates of Australian woody and grass foliage cover from time series of satellite-derived total foliage cover. Biogeosciences, 22(%), 1165-1185.
View Source