Soil Nitrogen

AUS-TSW-LVG-SON General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

440 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 Point, 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

Best-on-Offer TN (mg/kg) for Sandy soils is 440, derived from mean pasture SOC and a C:N ratio of 25:1.

Metric Definition:

Total soil nitrogen concentration in mg/kg at 0-10 cm depth for sandy soils under best-practice grazing management.

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark represents the best-on-offer total soil nitrogen concentration for sandy soils in Australian temperate semi-arid woodlands under best-practice grazing management, indicating a healthy and stable soil nitrogen level.

Justification:

Derived from large-scale SOC data and a biome-appropriate C:N ratio of 25:1, representing a healthy, stable system under best-practice grazing.

Sources (2)

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 Journal

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

View Source

Soil carbon monitoring and trends - Department for Environment and Water, accessed August 5, 2025, Government

Soil carbon monitoring and trends - Department for Environment and Water

View Source

Context

Region Australia
Biome Temperate Semi-Arid Shrublands & Open Woodlands
Land Use Livestock Grazing & Pasture
Assessment Not Stated
Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 10 Jun 2026

Notes

No upper detrimental threshold — higher values are always better up to natural saturation. Represents a reference condition for sandy soils in the biome; lower and upper functional thresholds are defined separately. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

Other benchmarks in the AUS-TSW-LVG-SON family.