Steppe definition. native spaces. What is a steppe? Flora and fauna

Steppe and. 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, grassy, ​​feather grass land, 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).

Steppe, -i and -i, about the steppe, in the steppe, from the steppe, across the steppe, pl. -and, -hey, well. Treeless, moisture-poor and usually flat area with herbaceous vegetation in a dry climate zone. Endless steppes. * To the wrong steppe (colloquial) - completely out of place, not that, not about that. || adj. steppe, th, th. Steppe vegetation.

IN Lately in connection with the warming of the climate, one can hear that the steppe is allegedly advancing on the Belarusian Polesie. That's it, and instead of the forest zone there will be a forest-steppe, and then a steppe. Particularly intelligent citizens even predict desertification. But it would be reasonable to look (before predicting anything) what was on the territory of Belarus in the distant and not very distant past, when there were warmings and stronger than the present.

In the last million years, the climate has been very unstable, and at times quite lousy. Several times there were serious coolings of the climate, when a significant part of Eurasia and North America covered with glaciers. The territory of Belarus was plowed by at least 4 glaciers. Glaciations alternated with interglacials. Now we have an extreme interglacial - the Holocene, which began about 11 thousand years ago.

The previous interglacial - Muravinsky (as it is called in Belarus) or Mikulin (as it is called in Russia) or Ey (as it is called in Germany and the Netherlands), which was 90-110 thousand years ago.

So, Ya.K. Elovicheva (2001) distinguishes two climatic optimums in the Muravinsky interglacial: Cherikovsky and Komotovsky. According to palynological data, during the Cherikov optimum, the territory of Belarus was dominated by broadleaf forests(oak, oak-elm, linden, linden-hornbeam, hornbeam), which, as it got colder, were replaced by broad-leaved-coniferous and coniferous forests. The climate pessimum was dominated by pine-spruce and pine forests with an admixture of thermophilic and mesophilic rocks. In the Komotovsky climatic optimum, pine-broad-leaved forests spread across the territory of Belarus. As the cold snap and the onset of a new glaciation (Poozersky) they were replaced by pine, pine-birch forests with well-defined grass associations.

Ya.K. Elovicheva (2001) using the information-statistical (cartographic) method, which is based on the statistical relationship of modern spore-pollen spectra with modern climatic conditions, the likely climatic characteristics were estimated.

It was found that the Cherikov optimum was characterized by average temperature January –1–(–2) o C; the average July temperature is +16–20 o C; the average annual rainfall is 550–1000 mm. For the Komotovo optimum, the following indicators were obtained: the average January temperature is –1–(–2) o C; the average temperature in July is +19-20 o C; rainfall - 550-800 mm / year. Thus, the average July temperature was 1–2 o C higher than the current one (modern - 17–18.5 o C); the average January temperature was 3–6 o C higher (modern – –8– (–4.5) o C); the amount of precipitation was higher by 50–350 mm/year (modern – 600). Average annual temperature was 2–4 o C higher than the modern one.

T.B. Rylova and I.E. Savchenko (2006) using the method of combining the climatic ranges of plants obtained somewhat different characteristics. For the phase of development of broad-leaved oak and oak-elm forests, the average temperature in July is +18-24.5 o C; the average temperature in January is -4– (+4.5) o C. For the phase of broad-leaved hornbeam-linden forests: the average temperature in July is +17–21 o C; the average January temperature is -5– (+3) o C.

Since the law natural zonality acted 100 thousand years ago, it can be assumed that the highest values ​​of these temperature indicators are more likely for the south of Belarus.

During the Muravinsky interglacial, relatively thermophilic species were present in the landscapes on the territory of Belarus, which now grow in Western European and Central European landscapes, but are absent in Eastern European ones, - Quercus pubescens Willd., Tilia tomentosa Moench, T. platyphyllos Scop., Fagus sylvatica L., Ilex aquifolium L. Hornbeam range ( carpinus betulus L.) was much wider than in modern times and covered the entire territory of Belarus.

Indicator species - common hornbeam ( carpinus betulus L.), whose distribution is now limited by the colder climate of the north of Belarus. On the map of the modern area hornbeam ( carpinus betulus L.)- red.

During the climatic optimum of the Muravinsky interglacial, the entire territory of Belarus is a zone deciduous forests, which currently covers only the southern part.

Such areas now have typical types of Western European broad-leaved forests.

The modern area of ​​the forest beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.):

The modern range of the holly holly ( Ilex aquifolium L.):

Modern range of downy oak ( Quercus pubescens Willd.) - red:

For these species, the climate that was on the territory of Belarus during the entire interglacial period is not suitable, primarily due to low heat supply and high continentality.

In Western European broad-leaved forest landscapes, the average January temperature does not exceed 0 o C, the annual sum of temperatures above 10 o C is 2500-3500 degrees. In Central European broad-leaved-forest landscapes, the average January temperature fluctuates around 0 o C (as a rule, it does not fall below –1–(–2) o C). The amount of precipitation in these landscapes is in the range of 500-700 mm/year. That is, the Western and Central European broad-leaved forest landscapes are the modern analogue of the landscapes that existed on the territory of Belarus in the Muravinsky interglacial.

An analysis of the spore-pollen spectra of the Muravinsky deposits in Polissya (for example, in the Mozyr region) indicates the presence of broad-leaved forests here with the dominance of linden, and then hornbeam. The forest landscape is unambiguously indicated by the proportion of tree pollen in the spectrum, which is 90-95% (correspondingly, the proportion of grass pollen is insignificant).

The forest-steppe landscape appears when the climate becomes colder: only cold-resistant trees (birch, pine) remain, the proportion of grass pollen increases to 50-80%, and the proportion of tree pollen, respectively, drops sharply.

It is simply impossible to confuse the spore-pollen spectra of forest and steppe landscapes.

The figure shows changes in the spore-pollen spectra of the geological section in the Svetlogorsk region, reflecting the change of broad-leaved forests (lower part) to pine-birch forests, and then to the forest-tundrosteppe (upper part).

The behavior of flora taxa is quite regular. Here is the result of cluster analysis for the Muravinsky interval in the Mozyr area. Two groups are clearly distinguished: taxa of broad-leaved forests (oak, hornbeam, linden, elm) and taxa of cold forest-tundra-steppe landscapes.

This pattern is inherent not only in Muravinsky, but also in all other Pleistocene interglacials on the territory of Belarus. At the maximum warming, broad-leaved forests are formed, during glaciations in the reglacial (i.e., periglacial) zones, cold forest-steppe (tundra-steppe) is formed.

“Steppe, yes steppe all around”, “Oh you, wide steppe”, “Dust, roads, steppe and fog”…. The words of these songs are the first thing that comes to mind when we try to imagine this endless plain. So what is the steppe, and why is it so dear to the Russian heart that so many folk tunes have been composed about it? Where are the steppes located, and how do the European steppes differ from the North American ones? What dangers can await us in the steppe and who lives there? You will learn about all this from the material below.

Steppe is a grassy plain in temperate and subtropical zones Northern and Southern hemispheres. The Eurasian steppe is located in temperate zone. Trees are found here only in river valleys, where there is enough moisture. Look at the photo of the steppe: this is the real kingdom of grasses, feather grass, bluegrass, fescue and other plants that form a continuous or almost continuous carpet. Nowadays, vast expanses of the steppes have been plowed under fields through which roads have been laid, and now large cities have grown on them.

Plants and animals in the steppe

Steppe plants are well adapted to heat and drought, they are distinguished by a grayish or gray-green color. Their leaves are usually thick, covered with a film-cuticle, sometimes curled up in dry weather to reduce evaporation. The roots of the steppe vegetation are tenacious and long. In spring, when there is most moisture, beautiful flowers bloom in the steppe.

Steppe plants belong to different species. These are legumes, and cereals, and other plants, which are usually combined in the concept of "forbs". Some herbs serve as good food for animals, while others are inedible. But numerous inhabitants of the steppes find their food there.

Stipe grasses are typical steppe plants. They belong to cereals, of which there are about 300 species. The inflorescence of the feather grass is a dense panicle, and its grain seeds are equipped with long pinnate awns. Thanks to this, they are perfectly carried by the wind, sink among other grasses and then burrow into the ground. In this they are helped by the sharp tip of the grain, which is simply screwed into the soil. So the feather grass spreads across the steppe.

Animals of the steppes are not only horses, which have long been domesticated, but also wild ungulate saigas. Hares live in the steppes, partridges nest, burrows dig and various rodents store food.

Cause of fires in the steppes

Although steppe fires spread very quickly, they are easier to extinguish than forest fires. The fact is that a grassroots forest fire can turn into a terrible horse fire, but in the steppe this is simply impossible, since there are no trees there. main reason fires in the steppes - human activity, and much less often - lightning. Not all animals and birds have time to escape, and spring fires still destroy their nests, cubs and completely burn out the grass. Subsequently, the seeds are again carried by the winds to the soil, and life returns. But if the fire comes too often, the steppe can turn into a semi-desert.

North American steppe - prairie

Steppes and prairies are essentially the same thing, they are just located on different continents. The prairie is the North American steppe, it is rather arid, because it is located in the depths of the continent, and from the west it is obscured by precipitation Rocky Mountains. Once upon a time, herds of bison grazed on these grassy expanses. Today they remain only in nature reserves and national parks, and the prairies have mostly been turned into fields where corn, wheat and other crops are grown.

The cowboys, about whom so many adventure films have been made and books written, were ordinary shepherds. Among them were many African Americans and Mexican Indians.

Prairie animals and plants

Often in the prairies you can see a group of mounds with a diameter of 120 cm and a height of 60 cm, around which there is no grass. These are settlements of prairie animals - prairie dogs, their voice really sounds like barking, but in fact they are rodents, related to squirrels. Dogs eat grass not only in order to get enough, but also in order to better view the surroundings. 32 prairie dogs eat in a day as much as one sheep, and 256 dogs - the daily ration of a cow.

The prairie plant buffalo grass is a grass common to these latitudes. It tolerates drought well, grows after the first rains and serves as food for bison.

Yucca is an evergreen plant from the Agovaceae subfamily. It grows well in prairies, semi-deserts and deserts, withstanding both heat and winter cold. The fibers of one of its species - filamentous yucca - are added to cotton for the production of jeans. This makes the fabric more durable.

The Mexican hat, or columnar ratibida, grows on the prairie, wasteland, and along roads from Canada to Mexico. It is a very hardy plant that loves limestone-rich soils, but can grow in clayey areas and even slightly saline soils. And it got its name because of the shape of the flower with petals pointing down.

In past centuries, millions of bison, the closest relatives of bison, grazed on the expanses of the American prairies. But the prairies gradually turned into wheat and corn fields and pastures for cows, and bison were constantly hunted. And by the beginning of the 20th century. only 500 bison remained. Only then did people come to their senses and began to restore the number of these animals. Today there are several tens of thousands of bison.

In the 19th century pastures in the West were not fenced, and so herds from different ranches mixed with each other. Cows always had to be separated and driven into paddocks. This occupation required considerable skill, and later a competition appeared on its basis - rodeo. Cowboys, mounted on horseback, also drove cattle across the prairie to the nearest railway stations. At times, this journey was long and dangerous. The heyday of the cowboy era was 1865-1885. After railways covered the whole country, and long drives of cattle were a thing of the past. However, the cowboys still work on the ranch and hold rodeos.

Here (from 250 mm to 450 mm per year) falls irregularly and are insufficient for tree growth. The steppes are characterized by hot, dry summers (average temperature in July is +20-24°С), Cold winter(frosts down to -20-30°С) with thin snow cover. Inland waters in the steppe are poorly developed, small, often dry up. The vegetation in the steppes is herbaceous, drought- and frost-resistant.

Depending on the nature of the vegetation in the steppe zone, three subzones are distinguished:

meadow steppes. They are transitional to . These steppes are rich in colorful herbs and moisture-loving grasses (bluegrass, bonfire, timothy grass). - chernozems, very fertile, with a thick layer of humus;

cereals. These steppes are located on southern and dark chestnut soils;

Southern wormwood-cereals. These are steppes with incompletely closed vegetation on chestnut soils with the inclusion of solonetzes. (Salt licks are a type of saline soil that is impervious to moisture when wet, becoming viscous and sticky, but hard as stone when dry.)

Fauna of the steppes rich and varied, it has changed greatly under the influence of man. Back in the 19th century, wild horses, aurochs, bison, and roe deer disappeared. Deer are pushed into the forests, saigas - into the virgin steppes and. Now the main representatives of the fauna of the steppes are rodents: ground squirrels, jerboas, hamsters, voles. Of the birds there are bustards, little bustards, larks and others.

The steppes are confined to different continents. This natural area stretches in a strip from the mouth to. In the steppe, they are elongated in the meridional direction. In the southern hemisphere, steppes are found small areas in (Chile,), in the southwest and southeast.

fertile soils steppes and favorable living conditions contributed to the dense settlement of people. The steppes are the most favorable areas for agriculture, since cultivated plants can develop here up to nine months a year. Grain and industrial crops are grown here. Inconvenient for arable land in the steppes are used as pastures for livestock. Fishing and hunting resources here are not of great economic importance.

Steppes- more or less even dry treeless spaces covered with abundant grassy. The spaces are flat and treeless, but wet, they are not called the steppe. They form or, or, in the far north, -. Spaces with very sparse vegetation, which does not form a grassy cover, but consists of separate, scattered bushes far from each other, are called. Deserts do not differ sharply from the steppe, and often mix with each other.

Hilly or mountainous countries are not called steppes. But they can just as well be treeless and can feed the same flora and fauna as flat steppes. Therefore, one can speak of steppe mountains and steppe slopes as opposed to forested mountains and forested slopes. The steppe is, first of all, the original treeless space, regardless of.

The steppes are characterized by special climatic relationships and special flora and fauna. The steppes are especially developed in southern Russia, and clean Russian word the steppe has passed into everything foreign languages. For distribution to earth's surface steppe spaces are undoubtedly influenced by climate. On everything the globe spaces with very sultry and dry represent deserts. Territories with a less hot climate and with a large amount of annual precipitation are partly or entirely covered by the steppe. Spaces with a more humid climate, temperate or warm, are covered with forests.

Typical steppes represent a flat or gently sloping country, completely devoid of forests, with the exception of river valleys. The soil is chernozem, lying most often on the thickness of loess-like clays with a significant content of lime. This chernozem in the northern strip of the steppe reaches the greatest thickness and obesity, as it sometimes contains up to 16% of humus. To the south, the chernozem becomes poorer in humus, becomes lighter and turns into chestnut soils, and then completely disappears.

The vegetation consists mainly of grasses growing in small tussocks, between which bare soil is visible. The most common types of feather grass, especially the common feathery feather grass. It often covers completely large areas and with its silky white feathery awns gives the steppe some special undulating appearance. On very fat steppes, a special kind of feather grass develops, which differs much large sizes. Smaller feather grass grows on dry barren steppes. After the types of feather grass important role plays kipets or tipets. It is found everywhere in the steppe, but plays a special role to the east of. Kipets is an excellent fodder for sheep.

In temperate and subtropical zones, overgrown with grassy y.

• Three times steppe covered with spring flowers, three times the steppe grass burned out from the summer heat, three times the steppe winter covered everything with snow.

Hyponyms for steppe

• • prairie

Hypernyms for steppe

• • plain