Soil Electrical Conductivity (EC)

AUS-TMS-FOR-SEC General Low confidence

Benchmark Value

0.005 dS/m

Direction: Higher is desirable ↑

Form: MinimumOnly

Scoring Curve

This curve shows how a field measurement for this indicator would score across all available benchmark forms in this context. The scoring engine uses 13 benchmarks together — the OptimalRange form drives the primary score, while 12 guard(s) constrain the result.

Contributing Benchmarks

OptimalRange Primary MinimumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard OptimalRange Guard MaximumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard Point Guard LowerThreshold Guard UpperThreshold Guard OptimalRange Guard MinimumOnly Guard Point Guard UpperThreshold Guard

Evidence & Context

Conceptually, a lower critical threshold for EC1:5 might be considered as approaching 0.005dS/m, or more practically, evidenced by a statistically significant and sustained decline from an established local baseline for a given soil type under management.

Metric Definition:

Soil Electrical Conductivity (EC1:5) in dS/m measured in a 1:5 soil-water extract from the top 0-10 cm of soil.

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark defines a lower critical threshold of Soil Electrical Conductivity below which soil function may be impaired due to unsustainable practices in Tropical Monsoonal Savannas production forestry.

Justification:

Values moving towards the EC of distilled water (~0.001 dS/m) indicate extreme and likely detrimental depletion of soluble ions, signaling compromised ecological function.

Sources (1)

Preview of Soil Electrical Conductivity - Natural Resources Conservation Service, accessed May 16, 2025,

Soil Electrical Conductivity - Natural Resources Conservation Service, accessed May 16, 2025, Journal

USDA 12

Supporting Sources (26)

Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

Preview of (PDF) Defining and Measuring the Health of Savanna Landscapes ..., accessed May 20, 2025,

(PDF) Defining and Measuring the Health of Savanna Landscapes ..., accessed May 20, 2025,

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

(PDF) Defining and Measuring the Health of Savanna Landscapes ..., accessed May 20, 2025

Preview of A Guide To Soil Electrical Conductivity (EC): Description, Importance & Soil EC Maps, accessed May 16, 2025,

A Guide To Soil Electrical Conductivity (EC): Description, Importance & Soil EC Maps, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

Impacts of salinity | Environment, land and water - Queensland Government

Preview of African Mahogany Under Saline Stress: An Analysis of the Transpiration Response at Different Salinity Levels - PMC, accessed May 16, 2025,

African Mahogany Under Saline Stress: An Analysis of the Transpiration Response at Different Salinity Levels - PMC, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

African Mahogany Under Saline Stress: An Analysis of the Transpiration Response at Different Salinity Levels - PMC

Preview of African Mahogany Under Saline Stress: An Analysis of the Transpiration Response at Different Salinity Levels - Preprints.org, accessed May 16, 2025,

African Mahogany Under Saline Stress: An Analysis of the Transpiration Response at Different Salinity Levels - Preprints.org, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

African Mahogany Under Saline Stress: An Analysis of the Transpiration Response at Different Salinity Levels - Preprints.org

Preview of Australia's State of the Forests Report - DAFF, accessed August 10, 2025,

Australia's State of the Forests Report - DAFF, accessed August 10, 2025,

Contextual Support

Criterion 4: Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources - DAFF, accessed May 26, 2025

Preview of Brigalow Tropical Savanna | EBSCO Research Starters, accessed May 16, 2025,

Brigalow Tropical Savanna | EBSCO Research Starters, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

Brigalow Tropical Savanna | EBSCO Research Starters

Preview of Factors that affect soil electrical conductivity (EC) based system for smart farming application, accessed May 16, 2025,

Factors that affect soil electrical conductivity (EC) based system for smart farming application, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

Factors that affect soil electrical conductivity (EC) based system for smart farming application

Preview of Fire regime impacts on soil microbes, soil organic carbon and ground cover in an Australian tropical savanna - CSIRO Publishing, accessed May 16, 2025,

Fire regime impacts on soil microbes, soil organic carbon and ground cover in an Australian tropical savanna - CSIRO Publishing, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

Fire regime impacts on soil microbes, soil organic carbon and ground cover in an Australian tropical savanna - CSIRO PUBLISHING | International Journal of Wildland Fire, accessed on June 5, 2025

Preview of Impact of fire return interval on pyrogenic carbon stocks in a tropical savanna, North Queensland, Australia - CSIRO Publishing, accessed May 16, 2025,

Impact of fire return interval on pyrogenic carbon stocks in a tropical savanna, North Queensland, Australia - CSIRO Publishing, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

Impact of fire return interval on pyrogenic carbon stocks in a tropical savanna, North Queensland, Australia - CSIRO Publishing

Preview of Measuring soil salinity | Agriculture and Food, accessed May 16, 2025,

Measuring soil salinity | Agriculture and Food, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Methodology Source Government

Measuring soil salinity | Agriculture and Food

Preview of New Insights on Plant Salt Tolerance Mechanisms and Their Potential Use for Breeding, accessed May 16, 2025,

New Insights on Plant Salt Tolerance Mechanisms and Their Potential Use for Breeding, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Irrelevant Journal

New Insights on Plant Salt Tolerance Mechanisms and Their Potential Use for Breeding

Preview of Physio-biochemical and morphological characters of halophyte legume shrub, Acacia ampliceps seedlings in response to salt stress under greenhouse - PMC, accessed May 16, 2025,

Physio-biochemical and morphological characters of halophyte legume shrub, Acacia ampliceps seedlings in response to salt stress under greenhouse - PMC, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

Physio-biochemical and morphological characters of halophyte legume shrub, Acacia ampliceps seedlings in response to salt stress under greenhouse - PMC

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 Salinity tolerance of hydroponically grown Pinus pinea L. seedlings - ResearchGate, accessed May 16, 2025,

Salinity tolerance of hydroponically grown Pinus pinea L. seedlings - ResearchGate, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

Salinity tolerance of hydroponically grown Pinus pinea L. seedlings - ResearchGate

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, accessed May 13, 2025,

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

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

Contextual Support Direct Evidence Journal

Litchfield Savanna BASE Contextual, Soil Physico-Chemical Data ...

Preview of Soil Salinity and pH Drive Soil Bacterial Community Composition and Diversity Along a Lateritic Slope in the Avon River Critical Zone Observatory, Western Australia - Frontiers, accessed May 16, 2025,

Soil Salinity and pH Drive Soil Bacterial Community Composition and Diversity Along a Lateritic Slope in the Avon River Critical Zone Observatory, Western Australia - Frontiers, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

Soil Salinity and pH Drive Soil Bacterial Community Composition and Diversity Along a Lateritic Slope in the Avon River Critical Zone Observatory, Western Australia - Frontiers

Preview of Survey teams head north to sample key ecosystems | TERN Australia, accessed May 16, 2025,

Survey teams head north to sample key ecosystems | TERN Australia, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Government

Survey teams head north to sample key ecosystems | TERN Australia, accessed May 13, 2025,

Preview of TERN Australia SI rev2 ver3, accessed May 16, 2025,

TERN Australia SI rev2 ver3, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support

TERN Australia SI rev2 ver3

Preview of TERN Soil Data Federator - CSIRO Data Access Portal, accessed May 16, 2025,

TERN Soil Data Federator - CSIRO Data Access Portal, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Methodology Source Government

TERN Soil Data Federator - CSIRO Data Access Portal, accessed May 15, 2025

Preview of Territory NRM - Sustainable Forestry Practices Guidelines for the NT, accessed May 16, 2025,

Territory NRM - Sustainable Forestry Practices Guidelines for the NT, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Government

Territory NRM - Sustainable Forestry Practices Guidelines for the NT, accessed May 17, 2025,

Preview of Tool 6.7 Soil health benchmarks and guidelines for managing problem soils, accessed May 16, 2025,

Tool 6.7 Soil health benchmarks and guidelines for managing problem soils, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

Tool 6.7 Soil health benchmarks and guidelines for managing problem soils

Preview of Tropical Forests and Grasslands (Savanna) - Soils 4 Teachers, accessed May 16, 2025,

Tropical Forests and Grasslands (Savanna) - Soils 4 Teachers, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support GreyLiterature

Tropical Forests and Grasslands (Savanna) - Soils 4 Teachers

Preview of Untitled - UKnowledge, accessed May 14, 2025,

Untitled - UKnowledge, accessed May 14, 2025,

Contextual Support

Untitled - UKnowledge, accessed May 14, 2025,

Preview of www.publications.qld.gov.au

www.publications.qld.gov.au

Contextual Support

www.publications.qld.gov.au

Preview of www.publications.qld.gov.au, accessed May 16, 2025,

www.publications.qld.gov.au, accessed May 16, 2025,

Contextual Support Journal

Measuring soil salinity - The Australian Wine Research Institute

Context

Region Australia
Biome Tropical Monsoonal Savannas
Land Use Production Forestry
Assessment Pristine Reference
Evidence Type DegradationThreshold

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 15 Mar 2026

Notes

This threshold is an expert inference due to lack of specific ecophysiological research in this system.

Related Benchmarks

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