found in the place where the organism lived. This advantage makes trace fossils in paleosols especially important because they allow for interpretation of the animal's behavior in its natural environment. A great example of this is the simple shallow fossilized burrows of solitary bees that make their homes in soil. Just as fossilized footprints, burrows, and coprolites represent trace fossils or organisms, paleosols can be considered trace fossils of an ancient ecosystem. Much like the small percentage of species that are fossilized, very few species within an ecosystem leave any discernible trace in paleosols. However, their more general effects within a paleosol may be preserved. A good example of this is root traces. Analyzing the pattern of root traces, the sequence of soil horizons, and other features can help identify the type of vegetation that was present during the formation of the soil. General features such as stature and spacing determine what botanists call a 'plant formation.' Distinct from a community or association, plant formation is not defined by any particular species. Examples of plant formation include forests, woodlands, and grasslands. Because it may not be possible to determine whether a particular plant was an oak, eucalyptus, or other species, plant formations in paleosols make it possible to identify an ancient woodland ecosystem from an ancient grassland ecosystem. (Retallack 2001) Topographic Relief The nature of soils will vary with topography, which can be understood by comparing the thin rocky soils of mountain tops to the thick fertile soils of grass-covered lowlands. Even in a featureless lowland, the nature of a soil will vary greatly depending on whether or not it is well drained; although the drainage of soil is not completely independent because vegetation, microclimate, and the age of the land surfaces will vary within a given landscape. However, in smaller areas, the limiting factors may be so extensive that a variation in soils across a landscape will constitute a true toposequence (topographical sequence), and the features within these soils can yield reliable topofunctions (topographic functions). Bold landscapes like alpine ridges and peaks can be resolved based on distinct slope-related processes. For example, steep alpine slopes have sparse vegetation with soils that are eroded by snow melt, agitated by frost heave, and impacted by rock fall. These processes create thin, shallowly rooted, lightly weathered and rocky soils that are indicative of a mountain slope environment. The size and degree of