Geographical location of the steppes: basic characteristics

The steppe is a plain from the horizon to the horizon, which does not have natural elevations. One of its main features is the almost complete absence of tall trees, not including artificial plantings along roads or water bodies. Vegetation in the steppe is always low - grass or a low shrub.

Geographical position of the steppes

Steppe landscapes are common on all continents, excluding Antarctica. However, the zone of their distribution lies within the temperate and subtropical climatic zones.

Meanwhile, the Russian term is not the only one for determining such a kind of ecosystem. For the American steppes, the term "prairie" is often used, while in South Africa the steppe is denoted by the word "veld", which in Dutch is translated as "field".

Thus, the geographical position of the steppes is extremely diverse. Depending on the latitude and season, they can have a different form: from semi-desert to fields with a rare growth of shrubs.

Summing up the preliminary result, it can be said with certainty that the steppe landscape appears in regions too droughty, so that forests can grow in them, but at the same time not dry enough to form a desert in their place.

Cold steppes of Eurasia and America

However, the lack of sufficient rainfall does not always mean too hot a climate. For example, in Mongolia, which is characterized by sharp seasonal temperature changes, in the summer months the temperature can rise to + 35 ° C, and in winter - to -35 ° C.

Such a situation with temperature differences is typical for the whole region, which is referred to in the scientific literature as the Great Steppe. This belt of arid lands with a pronounced continental climate stretches from the eastern regions of Ukraine to the foothills of the Tien Shan, covering the southern regions of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Another, with the predominance of the steppes, extends from central Anatolia to Iran and includes some regions of Armenia. Here, in spite of the dry summer, winters are extremely cold and windy.

The geographical position of the steppes on the North American continent roughly repeats the Eurasian variant - the steppes are concentrated in a remote part of the continent from the sea with a dry and cold climate. Thus, they cover the entire center of the United States, the west of Canada and the north of Mexico. In America, however, the steppe belt is known as the prairie.

Geographic location of the steppe in Russia

Steppes in the history, economy and culture of Russia are of great importance. From the steppes came nomads, ruining the fields and cities, but from there came and a new culture, greatly influenced the formation of the Great Russian ethnos, which subsequently formed a huge state from the Baltic to the Pacific.

In the modern borders of Russia, the steppes stretched from the Black Sea and the North Caucasus to the Ob and Transbaikalia. Large areas of the steppe occupy the Caspian region and along the foothills of the Southern Urals.

The climate and flora of the Russian steppes

For most Russians, the steppe landscape is well known - huge spaces, overgrown with sparse bundles of cereals, between which a naked weathered soil yawns. Norm of precipitation falling in the Russian steppes, does not allow large plants to gain a foothold and continue to grow, so low-growing cereals such as feather grass are common here. Sometimes you can meet and legumes.

The geographical position of the steppes makes their fauna extremely similar to the desert. The main inhabitants of the area are rodents - ground squirrels, marmots, mole rats. For these animals to find food in the steppe is not difficult, because the grass and beans in it is enough. In turn, small rodents can be an easy prey for birds of prey, which include the steppe eagle, kestrel and harrier.