Peatlands store massive amounts of organic carbon, but the fate of this carbon remains unclear as global climate continues to warm. The age of peatland inception and the main drivers of peat initiation are one of the most important issues in Holocene paleoecology, especially for the numerous but under investigated peatlands in European Russia. This paper introduces new peatland initiation ages for 44 mires in three areas located in the central part of European Russia within the Polesie landscape belt. This region is characterised by waterlogged sandy plains and flat surface topography. Phases of peatland initiation were compared with Holocene fire regime derived from macro-charcoal data as well as with regional climatic reconstructions. We found that peat inception in the region started around 12,000 cal yr BP, but the most active phases of peatland initiation took place during the periods 8500–7500, 7000–6000, 5300–5800, 4000–3500 and 1700–1200 cal yr BP. Expect for rapid peat growth during the early Holocene, peatland initiation mostly coincided with warm climatic periods and increased fire frequency. Forest soil paludification in poorly drained Polesie landscapes was presumably enhanced by reduced evapotranspiration and changes in water balance due to disturbance of forest cover after wildfires. We expect that rising air temperature in the current century will cause higher fire frequencies and may encourage waterlogging of forests and ecosystem transformation.

泥炭地存储着大量的有机碳，但是随着全球气候持续变暖，这些碳的命运仍不清楚。泥炭地的起始年龄和泥炭萌发的主要驱动力是全新世古生态学中最重要的问题之一，特别是对于欧洲俄罗斯众多但尚未调查的泥炭地而言。本文介绍了位于Polesie景观带内欧洲俄罗斯中部三个地区的44个泥炭地的新起步年龄。该地区的特点是涝渍的沙质平原和平坦的地形。将泥炭地萌发阶段与从宏观木炭数据得出的全新世火情以及区域气候重建进行了比较。我们发现该地区的泥炭始于大约BP 12,000 cal yr，但是泥炭地萌发最活跃的阶段发生在8500-7500、7000-6000、5300-5800、4000-3500和1700-1200 cal BP时期。期望在全新世早期泥炭快速增长，泥炭地萌发主要与温暖的气候时期和增加的火灾频率相吻合。减少的蒸散量和野火后森林覆盖的扰动导致水平衡的变化，可能使排水不佳的波兰兹地区的森林土壤钯化得到了加强。我们预计，本世纪的气温上升将导致更高的火灾频率，并可能鼓励森林涝灾和生态系统转型。泥炭地萌发主要与温暖的气候时期和增加的火灾频率相吻合。减少的蒸散量和野火后森林覆盖的扰动导致水平衡的变化，可能使排水不佳的波兰兹地区的森林土壤钯化得到了加强。我们预计，本世纪的气温上升将引起更高的火灾频率，并可能鼓励森林涝灾和生态系统转型。泥炭地萌发主要与温暖的气候时期和增加的火灾频率相吻合。减少的蒸散量和野火后森林覆盖的扰动导致水平衡的变化，可能使排水不佳的波兰兹地区的森林土壤钯化得到了加强。我们预计，本世纪的气温上升将导致更高的火灾频率，并可能鼓励森林涝灾和生态系统转型。