A steppe is an ecoregion of grassland plains without closed forest except near rivers and lakes, occurring in a semi-arid climate too dry to support forest but not dry enough to be desert. Steppes see extreme swings between summers as hot as 45 degrees Celsius and winters as cold as minus 55, with modest annual precipitation of 250 to 500 millimeters and sharp day-night temperature changes, and their grass and shrub cover varies with the specific temperate, subtropical or alpine climate involved. The world's largest steppe stretches from Ukraine through Russia and Kazakhstan into China, with other major steppe regions including the North American Great Plains prairie, the Pannonian Plain of central Europe, Patagonia, and semi-arid Mediterranean regions such as parts of Spain and North Africa.
Facts
Climate
Annual Precipitation (mm)Cited average is 250 to 500mm of annual precipitation; 375mm is the representative midpoint of that range, not a single measured site. Typical Low Temperature (C)This is a documented winter extreme, not a typical daily low; the source records temperature extremes reaching this figure in winter. Typical High Temperature (C)This is a documented summer extreme, not a typical daily high; the source records temperature extremes reaching this figure in summer. Connections
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Maca, Species Source Plants For A Future: Lepidium meyenii
Source Wikipedia: Marsh Frog
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Source Wikipedia: Syntrichia ruralis
Source Wikidata: Steppe Mammoth
Source Ground pangolin (Wikidata)
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1. Steppe (Wikipedia)
WikipediaArticle body, climate paragraph, precipitation sentence
Steppes average 250-500 mm (10-20 in) of annual precipitation
Article body, climate paragraph, temperature extremes sentence (summer figure)
Temperature extremes can be recorded in the summer of up to 45 °C (115 °F) and in winter of down to −55 °C (−65 °F).
Article body, climate paragraph, temperature extremes sentence (winter figure)
Temperature extremes can be recorded in the summer of up to 45 °C (115 °F) and in winter of down to −55 °C (−65 °F).
View the Source Przewalski's Horse (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHome To: Przewalski's Horse, Wikipedia intro: "golian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is a rare and endangered wild horse originally native to the steppes of Central Asia. It is named after the Russian geogr..."View the Source Chinese Ephedra (Wikipedia)
Home To: Chinese Ephedra, Wikipedia intro: "Mongolia, northern China, and Russia, it is a shrub found on arid highland slopes, dry river beds, steppes, fields or mountain sides. E. sinica contains alkaloi..."View the Source Ephedra Sinica (Wikipedia)
Home To: Ephedra Sinica, Wikipedia intro: "Mongolia, northern China, and Russia, it is a shrub found on arid highland slopes, dry river beds, steppes, fields or mountain sides. E. sinica contains alkaloi..."View the Source Wikipedia: Bactrian camel
WikipediaHome To: Bactrian Camel, Wikipedia intro: "n camel, domestic Bactrian camel, two-humped camel or double-humped camel, is a camel native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in co..."View the Source Leopard (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHome To: Leopard, Wikipedia 'Leopard': adapted to a variety of habitats ranging from rainforest to steppeView the Source Saiga Antelope (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHome To: Saiga Antelope, Wikipedia 'Saiga antelope': inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppeView the Source Ground pangolin (Wikidata)
European polecat (Wikidata)
Common pochard (Wikidata)
Wikidata: Steppe Mammoth
Apis cerana (Wikipedia)
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Apis cerana encompass a wide range of climatic zones including moist tropical rainforests, wet-dry tropical savannas, mid-latitude steppes, dry mid-latitude grasslands, moist continental deciduous forests, and taigas.
View the Source Arabian oryx, Wikipedia
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It is a bovid, and the smallest member of the genus Oryx, native to desert and steppe areas of the Arabian Peninsula.
View the Source Artemisia herba-alba (Wikipedia)
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Artemisia herba-alba, the white wormwood, is a perennial shrub in the genus Artemisia that grows commonly on the dry steppes of the Mediterranean regions in Northern Africa (Saharan Maghreb), Western Asia (Arabian Peninsula) and Southwestern Europe.
View the Source Eurasian Hoopoe (Wikipedia)
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These requirements can be provided in a wide range of ecosystems, and as a consequence the hoopoe inhabits a wide range of habitats such as heathland, wooded steppes, savannas and grasslands, as well as forest glades.
View the Source Dhole (Wikipedia)
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The dholes also once inhabited the alpine steppes extending into Kashmir to the Ladakh area, though they disappeared from 60% of their historic range in India during the past century.
View the Source Wikipedia: Crane fly
WikipediaHome To: Crane Fly, EcologyQuote, Home To: Crane Fly, Ecology
Nephrotoma and Tipula larvae are found in dry soils of pasturelands, lawns, and steppe.
View the Source Wikipedia: Syntrichia ruralis
WikipediaHome To: Star Moss, LeadQuote, Home To: Star Moss, Lead
It grows in tundra, coniferous forest, grassland, sagebrush steppe, and other habitat types.
View the Source Wikipedia: Marsh Frog
WikipediaHome To: Marsh Frog, Distribution and habitatQuote, Home To: Marsh Frog, Distribution and habitat
Marsh frogs inhabit water bodies in many types types of habitat up to an altitude of 2,500 m (8,200 ft), including forests, grasslands, steppes and even deserts, colonising dry areas via river channels and valleys.
View the Source Montagu's harrier (Wikipedia)
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It also utilizes heaths, dunes, moors, and can be found in the steppe.
View the Source Long-eared hedgehog (Wikipedia)
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Hemiechinus auritus has a range that extends from the eastern Mediterranean region, through the arid and steppe areas of Asia to western Pakistan in the south; and from eastern Ukraine through Mongolia (Gobi desert), to China (Xinjiang).
View the Source European hare (Wikipedia)
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In its native steppe habitat, European hare populations are spread apart; they average roughly 2 individuals per 100 hectares.
View the Source Rough-legged buzzard (Wikipedia)
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During winter, shrub-steppe habitats seem to encourage a strong dependence on rabbit prey.
View the Source Common crane (Wikipedia)
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Breeding habitat used in Russia are similar, though they can be found nesting in less likely habitat such as steppe and even semi-desert, so long as water is near.
View the Source Marsh sandpiper (Wikipedia)
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It is a rather small shank, and breeds in open grassy steppe and taiga wetlands from easternmost Europe to the Russian Far East.
View the Source Greater blind mole-rat (Wikipedia)
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The greater blind mole-rat is known from the steppes of Ukraine and from southern Russia between the Dnieper and the Volga rivers.
View the Source Douglas fir - Wikipedia
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Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca exhibits even greater plasticity, occurring in stands of interior temperate rainforest in British Columbia, as well as at the edge of semi-arid sagebrush steppe throughout much of its range, where it generates even deeper taproots still.
View the Source Asilidae
Home To: Robber Fly, HabitatQuote, Home To: Robber Fly, Habitat
Typical habitats include savannah, forest steppe, open steppe, semidesert, maquis shrubland, and related shrubland types such as fynbos and chaparral.
View the Source Plants For A Future: Matricaria chamomilla
Plants For A FutureHome To: German Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), HabitatsQuote, Home To: German Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), Habitats
Sandy or loamy arable soils in Britain ... Also found on saline steppes in Europe
View the Source Plants For A Future: Lepidium meyenii
Plants For A FutureHome To: Maca, HabitatsQuote, Home To: Maca, Habitats
Barren steppes, tundra and alpine plains, usually in limestone and clay soils, 3800 - 4800 metres
View the Source Plants For A Future: Anemarrhena asphodeloides
Plants For A FutureHome To: Anemarrhena, HabitatsQuote, Home To: Anemarrhena, Habitats
Mountain woodlands ... Exposed slopes and hills ... Scrub, grassy slopes, steppes, sunny and sandy hillsides from near sea level to 1500 metres
View the Source Rheum rhabarbarum (Wikipedia)
Home To: Rhubarb, DistributionQuote, Home To: Rhubarb, Distribution
on the steppes
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