Аннотация:The water retention curve (WRC), density, botanical composition, and ash contents were determined
for high-ash lowmoor peat soils (Rheic Sapric Histosols) developing on the floodplain of the Yakhroma River (Moscow oblast). The WRC was determined by capillarimetric method in the range of water pressure from 0 to 80–90 кPa. For the studied peat soils, theWRC represents a close to linear dependence of the water content on the water pressure in semilogarithmic scale. In contrast to mineral soils, a characteristic point of the air-entry pressure is virtually absent on the WRC of peat soils. The WRC of peat largely depended on their density: denser peat samples were characterized by a higher water content at the same water pressure, which attests to the increased water retention capacity. An increase in the degree of decomposition of peat and its ash content also leads to the rise in the
water retention capacity, but the effect of these factors is considerably smaller than the effect of peat density