Soil Nitrogen

AUS-AIF-FOR-SON General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

1000 mg/kg

Direction: Higher is desirable ↑

Form: Point

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 MaximumOnly Guard OptimalRange Guard MinimumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard Point Guard MinimumOnly Guard OptimalRange Guard MaximumOnly Guard Point Guard OptimalRange Guard Point Guard MinimumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard Point Guard MinimumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard OptimalRange Guard

Evidence & Context

The derived benchmark for a high-health state is an estimated 1000 mg/kg of total nitrogen in the topsoil (0–30 cm).

Metric Definition:

Total Soil Nitrogen concentration in the topsoil (0–30 cm)

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark represents the total soil nitrogen concentration in the topsoil (0–30 cm) indicative of a high-health state in arid inland floodplains and ephemeral river systems under production forestry.

Justification:

This value is derived from the condition of high-health, mature, uncleared native woodlands that represent the stable, resilient ecosystems that sustainable forestry practices should aim to emulate.

Sources (1)

Preview of Changes in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks following tree clearing were estimated at 32 rangeland sites in central and southern Queensland

Changes in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks following tree clearing were estimated at 32 rangeland sites in central and southern Queensland Journal

Changes in soil carbon and soil nitrogen after tree clearing in the semi-arid rangelands of Queensland - CSIRO PUBLISHING | Australian Journal of Botany, accessed July 30, 2025,

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 9 Jun 2026

Notes

The benchmark is derived from mean total nitrogen values in topsoils (0–30 cm) of uncleared, mature native Eucalyptus and Acacia woodlands in semi-arid Queensland, serving as a proxy for a high-health ecosystem state that sustainable forestry should maintain. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

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