Steppe

A steppe is a type of grassland plain that forms its own ecoregion. Unlike forests, it lacks a closed tree canopy except along rivers and lakes. Steppes appear in several biomes: montane grasslands and shrublands, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and temperate grasslands. The climate of a steppe is semi-arid—too dry for forests to thrive, but not dry enough to become a desert.

Steppes experience a semi-arid or continental climate with extreme temperature swings. Summer highs can reach 45 °C (115 °F), while winter lows can drop to −55 °C (−65 °F). Daily temperature shifts are also dramatic: in the highlands of Mongolia and northern Nevada, daytime temperatures can hit 30 °C (85 °F) only to fall below freezing at night. Annual precipitation averages 250–500 mm (10–20 in). In mid-latitudes, steppes have hot summers and cold winters. The combination of precipitation and potential evapotranspiration defines a steppe climate.

**Classification**

Steppes can be grouped by climate. Temperate steppe, or true steppe, occurs in continental climates and can be further divided, such as the Rocky Mountains steppes. Subtropical steppe features similar plants in the driest parts of Mediterranean climates, usually with a short wet period. Steppes can also be classified by vegetation type, such as shrub-steppe and alpine-steppe.

**Cold steppe**

The largest steppe region, called the Great Steppe, stretches across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, from Ukraine through Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and into China’s Altai, Koppet Dag, and Tian Shan ranges. This Eurasian Steppe was key to the spread of the horse, the wheel, and Indo-European languages. Its soils are often chernozem. Cold steppe also dominates much of Anatolia in Turkey (especially Central and East Anatolia, plus parts of Southeast Anatolia), as well as large areas of Armenia and Iran. The Pannonian Plain, centered in Hungary and extending into Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria, is another steppe region. In North America, a large steppe (prairie) covers the central United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico; the shortgrass prairie is the westernmost part of the Great Plains. The Columbia Plateau in southern British Columbia, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington is another North American steppe. In South America, cold steppe appears in Patagonia and high-elevation areas east of the southern Andes. Smaller steppe areas exist in New Zealand’s South Island interior. In Australia, a temperate steppe region stretches across northern and northwest Victoria into southern and mid New South Wales, bordering the semi-arid and arid Outback.

**Subtropical steppe**

In Europe, Mediterranean areas with steppe-like vegetation include central Sicily (Italy), southern Portugal, parts of Greece near southern Athens, and central-eastern Spain (especially the southeastern coast around Murcia), as well as rain-shadow zones like Zaragoza. In northern Africa, similar steppe vegetation occurs in the Algerian-Moroccan Hautes Plaines and the North Saharan steppe and woodlands. In Asia, subtropical steppe is found in semi-arid lands around the Thar Desert in India, much of the Deccan Plateau in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats, and the Badia of the Levant. In Australia, a subtropical steppe belt surrounds the continent’s most severe deserts and the Musgrave Ranges. In North America, this environment typifies transition zones between Mediterranean climates and true deserts, such as Reno, Nevada, inner California, and much of western Texas and adjacent Mexico.

**Human impact**

Humans have heavily altered steppe environments. For example, the forest steppe of Eastern Europe formed in the fourth millennium BC alongside the Trypillia culture, whose large settlements and economy likely contributed to the process. In Poland, the Błędów Desert was created by human activity during the Middle Ages.

**Notable fauna**

- Saiga (Saiga tatarica) - Red deer (Cervus elaphus) - Western roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) - Eastern roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) - Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) - Onager (Equus hemionus) - Wild horse (Equus ferus) - Grey wolf (Canis lupus) - Corsac fox (Vulpes corsac) - Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) - Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul) - Brown bear (Ursus arctos) - Common buzzard (Buteo buteo) - Steppe polecat (Mustela eversmanii) - Marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna) - Ermine (Stoat) (Mustela erminea) - Steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) - Lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni)

**See also**

Mammoth steppe, Grassland, Plain, Prairie, Savanna, Tugay, Tundra

**References**

Ecology and Conservation of Steppe-land Birds by Manuel B. Morales, Santi Mañosa, Jordi Camprodón, Gerard Bota. International Symposium on Ecology and Conservation of steppe-land birds. Lleida, Spain. December 2004. ISBN 978-84-87334-99-3

**External links**

"The Steppes". barramedasoft.com.ar. 1998–2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.