Soil Nitrogen

AUS-TMS-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 recommended reference value for total soil nitrogen is 1000 mg/kg (0.1%) for the topsoil (0-10 cm).

Metric Definition:

Total soil nitrogen concentration in the topsoil (0-10 cm) representing the best available condition of nature and high environmental health in production forestry within Australian Tropical Monsoonal Savannas.

Benchmark Definition:

Reference value for total soil nitrogen concentration in topsoil representing best available condition in TMS production forestry.

Justification:

Derived from the upper range of total N (0.1%) observed in topsoil (0-10 cm) of native Eucalyptus tetrodonta and E. miniata dominated open-forest savanna on sandy soils near Darwin, NT, serving as a proxy for best available condition.

Sources (1)

Preview of Butterbach-Bahl, K., Kiese, R., Liu, C., & Werner, C. (2014). Nitrogen and greenhouse gas dynamics in managed and natural savanna and pasture ecosystems in northern Australia. Biogeosciences, 11(21), 6047-6062.

Butterbach-Bahl, K., Kiese, R., Liu, C., & Werner, C. (2014). Nitrogen and greenhouse gas dynamics in managed and natural savanna and pasture ecosystems in northern Australia. Biogeosciences, 11(21), 6047-6062. Journal

N$_2$O, NO, N$_2$ and CO$_2$ emissions from tropical savanna and grassland of northern Australia: an incubation experiment with intact soil cores

Supporting Sources (19)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

Preview of (PDF) Soil and Landscape Grid of Australia - ResearchGate

(PDF) Soil and Landscape Grid of Australia - ResearchGate

Contextual Support

(PDF) Soil and Landscape Grid of Australia - ResearchGate

Preview of Australia's tropical savannas: vast, ancient and rich landscapes - CSIRO Research Publications Repository, accessed May 11, 2025,

Australia's tropical savannas: vast, ancient and rich landscapes - CSIRO Research Publications Repository, accessed May 11, 2025,

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

Williams RJ, Duff GA, Bowman DMJS, Cook GD. Australia's tropical savannas: vast, ancient and rich landscapes. In: David Keith, editor/s. Australian vegetation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 2017. 368-388.

Preview of bg.copernicus.org

bg.copernicus.org

Contextual Support Journal

bg.copernicus.org

Preview of Contrasting strategies of nutrient demand and use between savanna and forest ecosystems in a neotropical transition zone - BG

Contrasting strategies of nutrient demand and use between savanna and forest ecosystems in a neotropical transition zone - BG

Contextual Support Journal

Delta15N values of tropical savanna and monsoon forest species reflect root specialisations and soil nitrogen status - PubMed

Preview of Does rapid utilization of elevated nutrient availability allow eucalypts to dominate in the tropical savannas of Australia? - PubMed Central

Does rapid utilization of elevated nutrient availability allow eucalypts to dominate in the tropical savannas of Australia? - PubMed Central

Contextual Support Journal

Does rapid utilization of elevated nutrient availability allow eucalypts to dominate in the tropical savannas of Australia? - PubMed Central

Preview of Effect of fire and tree‐grass patches on soil nitrogen in Australian tropical savannas

Effect of fire and tree‐grass patches on soil nitrogen in Australian tropical savannas

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

Effect of fire and tree‐grass patches on soil nitrogen in Australian tropical savannas

Preview of Hoop pine - Araucaria (plantations), accessed July 19, 2025,

Hoop pine - Araucaria (plantations), accessed July 19, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

www.scionresearch.com

Preview of Landscape Monitoring for Landscape Research | Landscape ..., accessed July 22, 2025,

Landscape Monitoring for Landscape Research | Landscape ..., accessed July 22, 2025,

Contextual Support Government

Litchfield Savanna SuperSite | Fire Regime Impact | TERN | NT

Preview of Litchfield Savanna SuperSite | Fire Regime Impact - TERN Australia, accessed July 24, 2025,

Litchfield Savanna SuperSite | Fire Regime Impact - TERN Australia, accessed July 24, 2025,

Contextual Support Government

Land Ecosystem Atmosphere Program (LEAP) - Litchfield Supersite - Resources - The University of Western Australia

Preview of Liu, X. et al. (2023). Fire regime has a greater impact on soil microbial abundance than on soil organic carbon in a tropical savanna. Wildlife Research.

Liu, X. et al. (2023). Fire regime has a greater impact on soil microbial abundance than on soil organic carbon in a tropical savanna. Wildlife Research.

Contextual Support

Short‐term impact of fire on the total soil microbial and nitrifier communities in a wet savanna

Preview of Modelling Scale-dependent Processes and Impacts of Agricultural Disturbances on Tropical Savanna Ecosystems in Northern Australia - MSSANZ, accessed July 19, 2025

Modelling Scale-dependent Processes and Impacts of Agricultural Disturbances on Tropical Savanna Ecosystems in Northern Australia - MSSANZ, accessed July 19, 2025

Contextual Support Journal

www.mssanz.org.au

Preview of Plantation tree growth responses to P, N, K and minor and trace elements on low fertility savanna soils - ResearchGate, accessed May 16, 2025,

Plantation tree growth responses to P, N, K and minor and trace elements on low fertility savanna soils - ResearchGate, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

Agnote - Northern Territory Government

Preview of Recent insights in soil nutrient cycling: perspectives from Pinus and Eucalyptus forest studies around the world

Recent insights in soil nutrient cycling: perspectives from Pinus and Eucalyptus forest studies around the world

Contextual Support Government

Recent insights in soil nutrient cycling: perspectives from Pinus and Eucalyptus forest studies around the world

Preview of Review of C:N Ratios in Vegetation, Litter and Soil Under Australian Native Forests and Plantations - DCCEEW

Review of C:N Ratios in Vegetation, Litter and Soil Under Australian Native Forests and Plantations - DCCEEW

Contextual Support Journal

Review of C:N Ratios in Vegetation, Litter and Soil ... - DCCEEW

Preview of Soil and Landscape Grid National Soil Attribute Maps - Total Nitrogen (3" resolution) - Release 2 - CSIRO Data Access Portal, accessed August 5, 2025,

Soil and Landscape Grid National Soil Attribute Maps - Total Nitrogen (3" resolution) - Release 2 - CSIRO Data Access Portal, accessed August 5, 2025,

Contextual Support Government

Geology | Norfolk Island National Park | Parks Australia

Preview of Soil management for sustainable agriculture : background papers from a workshop organized by the Research Review Committee of th, accessed July 7, 2025

Soil management for sustainable agriculture : background papers from a workshop organized by the Research Review Committee of th, accessed July 7, 2025

Contextual Support Government

Soil management guides - NSW Department of Primary Industries

Preview of Soil organic carbon content at a range of north Australian tropical savannas with contrasting site histories - OPUS at UTS, accessed May 16, 2025,

Soil organic carbon content at a range of north Australian tropical savannas with contrasting site histories - OPUS at UTS, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

opus.lib.uts.edu.au

Preview of Soil Research - CSIRO PUBLISHING, accessed May 16, 2025,

Soil Research - CSIRO PUBLISHING, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

Litchfield Savanna BASE Contextual, Soil Physico-Chemical Data ..., accessed May 20, 2025,

Preview of Wildfire effects on soils and soil processes - CSIRO Publishing, accessed July 24, 2025,

Wildfire effects on soils and soil processes - CSIRO Publishing, accessed July 24, 2025,

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

The dynamics of microbial biomass C [MBC (a, b)] and N [MBN (c, d)]...

Context

Region Australia
Biome Tropical Monsoonal Savannas
Land Use Production Forestry
Assessment Not Stated
Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 9 Jun 2026

Notes

No upper detrimental threshold — higher values are always better up to natural saturation. Represents a functioning, albeit N-poor, native ecosystem and serves as a proxy for best available condition in the absence of direct data from high ecological health production forestry in TMS. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

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