Steppe

Stretching from Hungary to China is a huge expanse of flat, dry grassland. This is the Eurasian Steppe, an important travel and trading route between Europe and Asia for thousands of years. But what is a steppe? Steppes are flat grasslands, like savannahs. But unlike savannahs, steppes experience great changes in season and temperature.

Steppes are hot in the summer and cold in the winter. They are temperate. Steppes are too dry to support forests, but not quite dry enough to be deserts. They only get around 250 to 500 millimetres of rain each year, so we can say they are semi-arid. This is enough rain to support short grasses, but not enough for tall trees to grow.

Plants like feather grass, wormwood, and fescue grow. They provide grazing for large herds of migrating animals, such as Mongolian gazelles. There are no mountains or trees, so the wind grows strong and severe. It’s difficult to live or build permanent homes here. For thousands of years, the area was inhabited mostly by travelling — nomadic — peoples who herded cows, sheep, and horses.

The nomadic tribes of The Eurasian Steppe were possibly the first people to domesticate and ride horses, 5500 years ago! The Eurasian Steppe is so large, and so well-known that it is often referred to as “The Great Steppe” or even just “The Steppe.” However, it is not the only steppe in the world. In South America, the Pampas are temperate, fertile grasslands that are well-suited for growing crops. They are also home to plants and animals found nowhere else, such as the Pampas deer and the Pampas fox. South of the Pampas, the landscape becomes rockier, sandier and much worse for growing crops.

This is another steppe, the Patagonian Steppe. Very few people live here. Those that do mainly raise grazing animals. And over here is Saskatchewan, a province in Canada. Wheat and rapeseed grow as far as the eye can see.

This looks familiar… Summers are warm and dry, with high temperatures reaching the mid-30s degrees celsius in July and August. The winter, meanwhile, is very cold with temperatures staying below the freezing point for months. There isn’t very much rainfall, and there are no tall trees! This is another large steppe area, but here, it has a different name. In North America, temperate grasslands are called prairies.

The North American prairies cover much of the interior of North America, extending from Canada all the way down to Texas, in the United States. This area is good for growing grain crops like oats and barley, so a lot of farming takes place here. Animals native to the North American prairies include burrowing animals such as prairie dogs and burrowing owls. Burrowing allows these animals to hide from predators on the flat, open land. Steppes and prairies are rich in plant and animal life, but many species are under threat.

Farming, overgrazing, and mining often destroy the natural grass cover. Without grasses, the soil can wash away, or get blown away by wind. If steppes become deserts, many species will no longer survive and the people living there will struggle. That is why the conservation and protection of steppe regions is so important. In Kazakhstan, a country on the the Eurasian Steppe, the government is working to convert abandoned farmland back to grassland.

In Ukraine, some steppe areas have been converted into nature reserves. Around the world, many governments and conservation groups are working on how to preserve these unique regions. Can you think of any other ways to protect steppes?