Steppe

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Steppe

In physical geography

Geography

Geography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth"....
, a steppe (German

German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
, from , "a flat and arid land", , , ), pronounced , is a grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found....
plain

Plain

In geography, a plain is an area of landscape with relatively high relief, as well as flat. Prairies and steppes are types of plains, and the archetype for a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or vegetation may be absent in the case of sandy or...
without tree

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s (apart from those near rivers and lakes). The prairie

Prairie

Prairie refers to temperate grasslands of North America. These are areas of low topographic relief that historically supported grasses and herbs, with few or no trees, having a generally mesic habitat climate....
(especially the shortgrass prairie

Shortgrass prairie

The shortgrass prairie ecosystem of the North American Great Plains is a prairie that formerly encompassed lands from the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains east to Nebraska, including rangelands in Colorado and Kansas, and extending to the south through the High Plains of Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico....
) can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert

Désert

?D?sert? is ?milie Simon's debut single, released in October 2002. The song was a huge success both critically and commercially in her homeland....
, or covered with grass

Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
or shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s or both, depending on the season

Season

A season is one of the major divisions of the year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in weather.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the Axial tilt....
and latitude

Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
.

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Two types of steppe

Two types of steppe can be recorded:

the temperate steppe, the "true" steppe, found in continental
Continental climate

Continental climate is a climate that is characterized by winter temperatures cold enough to support a fixed period of snow cover each year, and relatively moderate precipitation occurring mostly in summer, although east coast areas may show an even distribution of precipitation....
areas of the world; it can further be divided in other subdivisions; as can be seen
the subtropical steppe, a similar association of plants that can be found in the driest areas with a Mediterranean
Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes over half of the area with this climate type world-wide....
-like climate; it has usually a short wet period.

Peculiar types of steppe include Shrub-steppe

Shrub-steppe

Shrub-steppe is a type of low rainfall natural grassland. Shrub-steppes are distinguishable from deserts, which are too dry to support a noticeable cover of perennial grasses or other shrubs, while the shrub-steppe has sufficient moisture levels to support a cover of perennial grasses and/or shrubs....
and Alpine-steppe

Alpine-steppe

An alpine-steppe is a high altitude natural grassland which receives very little rainfall.The Tibetan plateau is one example of an alpine steppe....
.

Locations

Cold steppe

The world's largest zone of all steppes, often referred to as "the Great Steppe", is found in southwest Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
and neighbouring countries in Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
, stretching from Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
in the west to through Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is a Turkic peoples country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic ....
, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a Landlocked_country#Doubly_landlocked_country country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union....
and Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....
to the Altai

Altay Mountains

File:2006-07_altaj_belucha.jpgThe Altai Mountains are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh, Ob River and Yenisei have their sources....
, Koppet Dag and Tian Shan

Tian Shan

The Tian Shan , also commonly spelled Tien Shan, is a mountain range located in Central Asia. The Chinese name for Tian Shan or Tien Shan, may in turn go back to a Xiongnu name, qilian reported by the Shiji as the last place where they met and had their baby as in of the Yuezhi, which has been argued to refer to the Tian Shan...
ranges. The vast Eurasian Steppe

Eurasian Steppe

The Eurasian Steppe is the term often used to describe the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia stretching from the western borders of the steppes of Hungary#Geography to the eastern border of the steppes of Mongolia#Geography and climate, for roughly 5000 km....
, as it is called, is bordered in the north, on the eastern side of the Urals

Ural Mountains

The Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north and south through western Russia. They are usually considered as the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
, by the forested West Siberian Plain

West Siberian Plain

The West Siberian Plain is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia and Russia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Eastern Sayan Mountains and the Baikal Mountains on the south....
taiga

Taiga

Taiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern Kazakhstan and Japan , the taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome....
, extending nearly as far as the Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic North Pole region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions....
.

The Pannonian Plain

Pannonian Plain

The Pannonian Plain is a large plain in Central Europe that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea dried out. It is a geomorphology subsystem of the Alpide belt....
conforms another steppe climate in South Eastern Europe.

Another large steppe area (prairie

Prairie

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
and western Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
. The High Plains

High Plains (United States)

The High Plains are a subregion of the Great Plains in the central United States, generally encompassing the western part of the Great Plains before the region reaches the Rocky Mountains....
steppe is the westernmost part of the Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada....
region.

Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a geographic region containing the southernmost portion of South America. Located in Argentina and Chile, it comprises the Andes mountains to the west and south, and plateaux and low plains to the east....
is another land dominated by a steppe. A relatively small steppe can be found in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, in the inner part of the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major Islands of New Zealand of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. The Maori name for the South Island, Te Wai Pounamu, meaning "The Water/s of Greenstone" , possibly evolved from Te Wahi Pounamu which means "The Place Of Greenstone"....
and in Hungary (the Puszta

Puszta

Puszta is a concept often associated with the traditional Hungary landscape. It means "plains", a vast wilderness of grass and bushes. With a capital letter and a definite article, it refers to the flattest parts of the Alf?ld ....
).

Subtropical steppe

In Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, some Mediterranean

Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes over half of the area with this climate type world-wide....
areas have a steppe-like vegetation, such as central Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
and central-eastern Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, especially the southeastern coast (around Murcia

Murcia

Murcia is the capital city of the Region of Murcia, located at the river Segura in south-eastern Spain. Its population is 433,850 , and the population of its metropolitan area is 743,326 ranking as the ninth-largest metropolitan area of Spain....
), central Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast....
, and places cut off from adequate moisture due to rain shadow

Rain shadow

For the Australian television series see Rain Shadow .A rain shadow or rainshadow, or more accurately, precipitation shadow, is a dry region of land that is leeward of a mountain range or other geographic feature, with respect to prevailing wind direction....
effects such as Zaragoza

Zaragoza

Zaragoza, also called Saragossa in English language, is the capital city of the Zaragoza and of the Autonomous communities of Spain and former Kingdom of Aragon of Aragon, Spain....
.

In Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, a subtropical steppe can be found in semi-arid lands that fringe the Thar desert of the India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
n subcontinent; in Australia it can be found in a belt surrounding the most severe deserts of the continent and around the Musgrave Ranges

Musgrave Ranges

Musgrave Ranges is a mountain range in Central Australia, straddling the boundary of South Australia and the Northern Territory, extending into Western Australia....
.

In North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
this environment is typical of transition areas between zones with a Mediterranean climate and true deserts, such as Reno, Nevada

Reno, Nevada

Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, Nevada, United States. A 2006 estimate indicated that the city's population had increased to 214,853, but ranked Reno as the third largest city in the state following Las Vegas, Nevada, and Henderson, Nevada....
and the inner part of California

California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
; In South America

South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
the most important zone with a warm steppe is the Pampa

Pampa

The Pampas are the fertile South American lowlands that include the Argentina provinces of Buenos Aires Province, La Pampa Province, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, and C?rdoba Province, Argentina, most of Uruguay, and the southernmost end of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, covering more than ....
.

Tropical grasslands and shrublands similar to steppe

Other zones dominated by grasslands and shrublands similar to steppe can be found in tropical

Tropical climate

A tropical climate is a kind of climate typical in the tropics. Wladimir K?ppen's widely-recognized K?ppen climate classification defines it as a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures above ....
areas of the world. In these locations, necessary rainfall to separate steppes from true deserts may be half as much again due to greater evapotranspiration

Evapotranspiration

Evapotranspiration is a term used to describe the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the earth's land surface to atmosphere. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the air from sources such as the soil, canopy interception, and waterbody....
. These include transition zones between savanna

Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a tropical, subtropical or temperate woodland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the Canopy does not close....
and severe desert such as the Sahel

Sahel

File:Sahel Map-Africa rough.pngFile:AT0713 map.pngThe Sahel or Sahel Belt is a semi-arid tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in Africa, which forms the transition between the Sahara to the north and the slightly less arid savanna belt to the south, known as the Sudan ....
that fringes the true Sahara

Sahara

The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometers , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe....
.

Another significant "tropical steppe", noteworthy for not grading into desert, is the Sertão

Sertão

In Brazil, the sert?o once referred to the vast hinterland of Brazil away from the Atlantic coastal regions where the Portuguese first settled in South America....
of northeastern Brazil.

Steppe

Two types of steppe

Locations

Cold steppe

Subtropical steppe

Tropical grasslands and shrublands similar to steppe

See also

External links