native spaces. What is a steppe? What is the steppe Steppe definition

In the temperate and subtropical zones of the two hemispheres, there are steppes - territories with a predominantly flat landscape. Steppes are widespread on all parts of the land, except for Antarctica. However, recently there has been a gradual reduction in the area of ​​the steppe zone due to active human activity.

Description of the natural zone of the Steppe

The vast natural complex of the Steppe is located between two intermediate zones: semi-desert and forest-steppe. It is a huge plain, completely covered with small shrubs and herbs. The exceptions are small forest belts near water bodies.

Rice. 1. Steppes occupy very large areas.

Far from all the treeless plain is a steppe. A similar relief and features of the flora, coupled with high humidity, form a zone of swampy meadows, and the influence of low temperatures forms a different natural complex - the tundra.

The soil of the natural zone of the Steppe is represented by chernozem, in which the humus content is the greater, the further north the steppe is. With the advancement to the south, the soils begin to lose their fertility, the chernozem is replaced by chestnut soils with an admixture of salts.

Due to the high fertility of the steppe chernozem and the mild climate, the steppe often becomes a natural and economic zone. It is cultivated for growing a variety of horticultural and agricultural crops, taken to pastures for livestock.

Steppes- arid ecosystems of the temperate zone, in which the vegetation cover is formed mainly by different types of grasses, among which the most prominent place is occupied by turf grasses. The belt is called moderate, but the peculiarity of the steppes is precisely the habit of extremeness. The plants and animals that make up the steppe ecosystem are equally well adapted to the lack of moisture and the merciless summer heat, severe winter frosts and constant winds. Trees in such conditions are found only in special, protected habitats, on the other hand, shrubs are no less common than grasses, but they are often not higher than the grass stand and are just as resistant to extreme conditions. Accustomed to the fact that the forest and wildlife are synonyms, the inhabitants of central Russia consider the steppe a strange and “wrong” incident, a deviation from the norm. But this is not an incident, but one of the main global types of ecosystems, which on the plains of Eurasia corresponds to “its own” natural zone, and in many of its mountain systems - a special steppe belt. And outside the steppe zone, steppe ecosystems are found in conditions suitable for them - from the far north to subtropical latitudes. It's just that the ecological structure of the steppes is radically different from the forests.

Steppes are an important part of global biodiversity and have a global value. Responsibility for their preservation lies with the countries that have the main steppe territories, including Russia. At the same time, in many regions of Russia, it is the steppe ecosystems that form the basis of the natural environment, provide environmental services that are critical for human life and economic management. Steppes around the world are among the most disturbed and least protected ecosystems; in the last decade, their threatening position has been increasingly recognized and attracted more and more attention - primarily at the level of international institutions and organizations.

For Russia, the steppes are of particular importance. It is the steppe ecosystems that have formed the natural basis on which the main part of Russian agriculture has been based for almost two centuries. Chernozems and soil types close to them are the basis of Russian agriculture; these soils, which are among the most fertile, are formed by steppe ecosystems. Steppe pastures are the most important basis for the domestic production of meat, milk, wool and other livestock products. But it's not just about economics; for many peoples of our country, the steppe is the “mother landscape”, the basis of not only the traditional economy, but also culture, the spiritual world.

Steppes make up an impressive part of Russia's biodiversity and are associated with many threatened and vulnerable plant and animal species. Among them, hundreds of species are endemic - they live only in Russia and neighboring countries.

As in the rest of the world, most of it has been destroyed. In their place are now fields, settlements, quarries and dumps. The remaining steppe territories are used as pastures and hayfields, partly occupied by military training grounds and hunting grounds. Less than 1% of Russia's steppe ecosystems are preserved within specially protected natural areas, this is the smallest share among all types of ecosystems in the country.

The widest flat expanses, a wild field overgrown with flowers and herbs - that's what the steppe is. These are hectares of endless land, breathing freedom, calcined by the summer heat, blown by all winds or frozen by the winter cold. Indented by riverbeds, free, like the soul of a Russian person, the wild steppe is sung in folk songs. She was admired, loved, cherished. In the modern world, there are few open spaces undeveloped by man. The steppes were plowed and sown with wheat, oats, and rye. The same fields that have remained untouched or have been abandoned and re-covered with grass continue to fascinate at any time of the year.

What is the steppe in the geography of Russia? These are endless expanses that stretch from the westernmost Russian outskirts to Siberia, covering the territory to the Black, Azov Seas and the Caspian Sea and reaching through the steppe strip such large rivers as the Volga, Don, Ob ​​and Dnieper carry their waters. This is somewhere flat, somewhere slightly hilly, on which sometimes, here and there, there are small islands of trees.

The nature of the steppes is diverse. The steppe in spring is a huge territory covered with rich colors. A riot of colors, a real artist's palette - that's what the steppe is at this time of the year. Islands of bright red and purple violets, blue and lilac hyacinths, golden sparks of adonis, and all this in the midst of bright green grass. A little later, already at the beginning of June, this spring coloration is replaced by an equally bright palette of pores - the expanses are covered with blue forget-me-nots, red poppies, irises, yellow tansy, wild peonies. July is the time for purple sage to bloom. In the second half of summer, the steppe turns white, covered with glades of daisies, clover and meadowsweet. In the hot season, when the sun rises high and dries the earth, and rains are rare, the steppe looks like an endless scorched canvas. Here and there, among the faded stalks of cereal grasses, gray threads of feather grass flutter. When the hot sun finally “works” over the endless expanses, tumbleweed balls will roll across the faded, scorched, cracked earth. These are various plants linked together, forming a lump and moving across the expanse, spreading their seeds.

The fauna of the steppes is also rich. For him, what is the steppe? These are harsh living conditions to which the inhabitants of the vast expanses are forced to adapt. A large number of rodents hunt in the steppe: ground squirrels, mole rats, jerboas, marmots, some of them. All of them build their burrows with numerous passages underground. Among ungulates there are various types of gazelles, antelopes. Not rare in the steppes and snakes. Birds of prey are represented by the steppe eagles, the kestrel, and the harrier. In addition, bustards and various species of small birds such as larks live in the steppes. They live in the steppes and predatory wolves and jackals become especially dangerous in winter. When the steppe was still little mastered, there were frequent cases when wolf packs attacked a person.

The steppe is also found on other continents. However, there it has other names. In America it is the prairie, in Africa it is the savannah.

STEPPE step m. yuzhn. east treeless, and often waterless wasteland at a great distance, desert. Our steppes, in the south and in the east, are overgrown with feather grass, which is revered as belonging to the steppes; but the American savannas, Asian and African sands, the same steppes; treelessness, uninhabited, nomadic expanse, like the Kyrgyz steppe, on which we find, in places, forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, rocks, etc. In the south. and east. steppe economy, like grass, mowing; pasture, pasture, is opposed to meadows, and as grain-growing land, the same as virgin, new, non-plow, that is, the land is grassy, ​​feather grass, on which there are no traces of weeds. Horses in the steppe, in the steppe, graze. The forest steppe is no better. There is space in the steppe, land in the forest. | Steppe, arch.-mez. flat, treeless upland, watershed, waterway; a dry strip, between two rivers, a mane. | Steppe, hunter. ridge of a greyhound and canine dog, horta. The steppe of the dog is wide, strong. Also backbone of bull, cow, and | the ridge of the horse's neck, along the mane. Steppe south. steppe, related to the steppe. Steppe vegetation, characteristic of the steppes; feather grass and other perennial herbs coming from the root, not from the seed. Steppe hay is better than meadow hay, but worse than oak hay. Steppe expanse. Steppe Duma, local administration of nomadic Tungus. Steppe haze, which is the ghost of waters, forests and cities, see haze. Steppe farms. Steppe hypericum, plant. Verbascum blattaria, knaflik, seven-leaf, moth grass. Steppe chicken, little bustard bird. Steppe chicken and - rooster, East-Sib. pipe, dopa, drahva. Steppe horses, opposite. factory. - vein, cervical, black-blooded vein in animals, from which blood is thrown. Steppe raspberry, plant. biryuchy berries, berry ephedra, Kalmyk incense, Kalmyk raspberry, wallflower, Ephedra vulgaris. You can't keep a steppe horse in a stable. Steppe dweller, steppe dweller, nyachok, nyachka, steppe living in the wilderness, lonely, borrower, farmer. | Stepovik, steppe, southern. field, steppe undead, like brownie, water, goblin. | Stepnyak or stepnyaga m. east. steppe sandpiper, konepas, curlew, Numenius arcuata. Stepyanik, Stilago plant? Steppe lands, steppe region, rich in steppes. Steppe horse, perm. sib. conical, whose neck is a wheel. Stepnitsa? equine disease is washed. Stepnina, steppe soil, plot, strip of steppe; virgin land, novelty, unplowed. Stepchina, hers. grass feather grass, thyrsus. Stipa capillata (Naumov).


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STEPPE

If you dreamed of the steppe, you will move forward easily and freely. The hilly steppe, overgrown with grass and flowers, portends joyful surprises. The naked steppe threatens with sadness and loneliness. Getting lost in the steppe is a bad sign....