Paludification

The process is characterized by peat initialization on previously drier and vegetated habitats over inorganic soils, with no fully aquatic phase.

[1] Thus the paludification process includes a shift from forests, grassland or long exposed bare land to peatland.

The development of a paludified soil requires a positive hydrological balance during the growing season.

[5] The factor geomorphology (and also topography) creates spatial diversity in the hydrological characteristics of the landscape.

The flat topography (and thus low slopes) in the two major peatlands in the world, located in the West Siberian Plain and in the Hudson/James Bay Lowlands of Canada respectively, illustrate the significance of this factor.