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Russian steppe in spring

In physical geography, a steppe (Russian: степь - [sʲtʲepʲ], Ukrainian: степ - /stɛp/, Kazakh: дала - /dɑlɑ/), pronounced in English as /stɛp/, is a plain without trees (apart from those near rivers and lakes); it is similar to a prairie, although a prairie is generally considered as being dominated by tall grasses, while short grasses are normal in the steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude. The term is also used to denote the climate encountered in regions too dry to support a forest, but not dry enough to be a desert. The term steppe originally comes from the Russian word /stɛp/ which means a flat and arid land.

The climates of all steppes are summarized by a continental climate or landclimate. Peaks can be recorded in the summer of up to 40°Celsius and in winter -40°Celsius. Besides this huge difference between summer and winter, the differences between day and night are also very great. In the highlands of Mongolia, 30°Celsius can be reached during the day and sub-zero temperatures at night.

Also, the mid-latitude steppes can be summarized by hot summers and cold winters, averaging 250-500 mm (10-20 inches) of rain or equivalent in snowfall per year. In tropical locations, necessary rainfall to separate steppes from true deserts may be half as much again due to greater evapotranspiration.

Around the world, 2 types of steppe can be recorded^[1]:

• the dry steppe
• the tropical steppe

This division can further be divided in other subdivisions; as can be seen here

Other types of Steppe include Shrub-steppe and Alpine-steppe.

Southern Siberian steppe: windbreaker trees in the wintertime.

The world's largest zone of all steppes, often referred to as "the Great Steppe", is found in South-East Russia and neighbouring countries in Central Asia, stretching from Ukraine in the west to the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea. To the east of the Caspian Sea, the steppes extend through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to the Altai, Koppet Dag and Tian Shan ranges. The vast Eurasian Steppe, as it is called, incorporates all of these steppes. The area is bordered in the north, on the eastern side of the Urals, by the forested West Siberian Plain taiga, extending nearly as far as the Arctic Ocean.

Other regions of steppes include transition zones between savanna and severe desert such as the Sahel that fringes the true Sahara or similar semi-arid lands that fringe the Thar desert of the Indian subcontinent or the more severe deserts of Australia.

Another large steppe area is located in the central United States and western Canada. The High Plains steppe is the westernmost part of the Great Plains region. A significant steppe, noteworthy for not grading into desert, is the Sertão of northeastern Brazil.

Some steppes are to be found in transition zones between zones of Mediterranean climate and desert, such as Tijuana, Baja California, and in places cut off from adequate moisture due to rain shadow effects such as Zaragoza, Spain.

Ecology and conservation of Steppe-Land birds by Gerard Bota et al. International Symposium on Ecology and Conservation of Steppe-land Birds. Lynx Edicions 2005. 343 pages. ISBN 84-87334-99-7

• Shrub-steppe
• Tundra-steppe
• Alpine-steppe
• Coastal plain
• Coastal prairie
• Field (agriculture)
• Flooded grasslands and savannas
• Flood-meadow
• Grassland
• Meadow
• Pasture
• Plain
• Prairie
• Rangeland
• Savanna
• Tundra
• Water-meadow
• Wet meadow
• Veld

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Steppes

• The Steppes