STEPPE

To the forest-dwelling, inland-looking Eastern Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarus), the steppes of Central Russia and Eurasia historically were much like the oceans and seas to maritime civilizations. In song and verse, these vast grasslands were the dikiye polya (wild fields) inhabited by the equivalent of untamed, bloodthirsty pirates. Between 700 b.c.e. and 1600 .e., the steppes were the realm of marauding horse-riding nomads, scions of the Völkerwanderungen (peoples' migrations), such as the Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Huns, Avars, Magyars, Pechenegs, Polovtsy, Mongol-Tatars, and multi-cultural free-booting Cossacks. Indeed, until the invention of the steel-tipped, moldboard plow in the nineteenth century, Eastern Slavic farmers were unable to cultivate the rich black-earths (chernozems) of the steppes, and they confined their settlements mainly to the forest zones.

Steppe climates are sub-humid, semiarid continental types. Summer lasts from four to six months. Average July temperatures range from 70 to 73.5 degrees Fahrenheit (21 to 23 degrees Celsius). Winter, by Russian standards, is mild, with January averaging between -4 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 and 0 degrees Celsius). It generally persists for three to five months. There is a distinctive lack of soil moisture. Average annual precipitation is 18 inches (46 centimeters) in the north and 10 inches (26 centimeters) in the south. Most of it derives from summer thunderstorms. The depth of snow cover in winter ranges from 4 inches (10 centimeters) in the south to 20 inches (50 centimeters) in the north.

Steppe ecology exhibits subtle diversity. Herbaceous vegetation abounds. The only natural forests follow the river valleys and ravines, but shelter-belts, planted since the 1930s, parallel the roads and farms to trap snow in winter. Salinized soils (solonets ) occasionally interrupt the predominant chernozems and chestnut soils. Small mammals typify the steppe, including marmots, hamsters, social meadow mice, jerboas, and others.

This zone and the wooded-steppe to the north yield Russia's best farmland. Between 1928 and 1940, most of the steppe was converted to state and collective farms. In the 1950s, long-term fallow lands (perelog and zalezh ) were plowed in Russia's Altay Foreland and in northern Kazakhstan (the "Virgin Lands"); thus most of the natural steppe is gone. Common crops are wheat, barley, sunflowers, and maize.

See also: climate; geography

bibliography

Gregory, James S. (1968). Russian Land, Soviet People. New York: Pegasus.

Jackson, W. A. Douglas. (1956). "The Virgin and Idle Lands of Western Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan." The Geographical Review 46:1–19.

Shaw, Denis J. B. (1999). Russia in the Modern World: A New Geography. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Victor L. Mote

steppe (Eurasian steppe) A vast, temperate grassland biome that stretches from the River Danube in Romania to Dunbey in China. Generally, the dominant vegetation comprises drought-resistant perennial grasses, but the actual species composition varies from east to west and north to south according to the rate of precipitation. Near the Black Sea, large feather grasses (Stipa) and sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina) prevail. Here the climate is warm and humid in spring, supporting ephemeral species (e.g. Tulipa) which soon die as the long, hot, dry summer follows. In the central steppe region the spring is cold, supporting few ephemeral species, but in wetter years large numbers of vegetatively reproducing plants survive (e.g. Artemisia). There are 4 discernible belts of latitude, with the highest rainfall in the north: meadow steppe; dry herbage/turf grass steppe, in which steppe herbage dominates; arid turf grass steppe, which has less steppe herbage; and desert/scrub/turf grass steppe.

steppe(Eurasian steppe) A vast, temperate grasslandbiome that stretches from the River Danube in eastern Austria to Dunbey in China. Generally, the dominant vegetation comprises drought-resistant perennial grasses, but the actual species composition varies from east to west and north to south, according to the rate of precipitation. Near the Black Sea, large feather grasses (Stipa) and sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina) prevail. Here the climate is warm and humid in spring, supporting ephemeral species (e.g. Tulipa) which soon die as the long, hot, dry summer follows. In the central steppe region the spring is cold, supporting few ephemeral species, but in wetter years large numbers of vegetatively reproducing plants survive (e.g. Artemisia). There are four discernible belts of latitude, with the highest rainfall in the north: meadow steppe; dry herbage/turf grass steppe in which steppe herbage dominates; arid turf grass steppe which has less steppe herbage; and desert/scrub/turf grass steppe.

steppe / step/ • n. (often steppes) a large area of flat unforested grassland in southeastern Europe or Siberia.

steppe Extensive, semi-arid plains of central Eurasia. The landscape is usually flat and open with few trees. Steppes have very cold winters and warm summers, with light rainfall in the summer and little rain in the winter. The steppe comprises three zones of vegetation: the forest steppe; the grassland prairie, which is now usually cultivated; and the non-tillable steppe, which is semi-desert and fertile only after irrigation.