Steppe plants are extremely diverse, but many of them have common characteristics. Among them are small, narrow leaves. In some species, they have the ability to curl up during drought to protect themselves from excessive evaporation of moisture. The color of the leaves is often grayish or bluish-green: the usual bright green foliage can rarely be found here. Steppe plants tolerate heat and lack of rain well.
According to various reference books, about 220 different plant species can be seen in the steppe. Many steppe plants have an extensive root system, allowing them to extract moisture from the ground. In the floodplains of flowing rivers you can find willows, and in those places where groundwater Other trees and shrubs also come close to the surface of the earth: hawthorn, Tatarian maple, blackthorn, etc. In places with saline soil, special steppe plants grow: salt marsh wormwood, kermek, sweda, and saltwort.
Inhospitable most of the year in early spring the steppe is transforming. At this time, before the start of the dry season, it is covered with a colorful carpet early flowering plants: tulips, irises, hyacinths, crocuses, poppies. These steppe plants differ from cultivated varieties primarily in their smaller size. At the same time, their shape can be more bizarre - such as, for example, the Schrenck tulip, one of the ancestors of the cultivated varieties of this flower. Due to the plowing of the steppe, as well as the ruthless collection of flowers, this species is listed in the Red Book of Russia. steppe, as well as can have flowers of various shades, from yellow to purple. This species is also listed as endangered.
Before the heat sets in, the bright steppe flowers already have time to produce seeds. Their tubers are stocked nutrients that will allow them to flourish in next year. Now comes the turn of plants accustomed to drought: fescue, feather grass, wormwood. Fescue (Valis fescue) is an erect grass up to half a meter high. This plant serves as food for horses and small livestock and is one of the main pasture plants in the country (fescue is not suitable for harvesting for future use). Feather grass, a typical representative of the steppe flora - perennial grass, having a short rhizome and narrow, long leaves, resembling wire. There are about 400 species in this genus, some of which are protected. The main enemy of feather grass is uncontrolled grazing, during which this plant is simply trampled. As for wormwood, in the steppe, along with other plants, almost all of its species are found (more than 180 in total). Continuous wormwood thickets are usually formed by low varieties - for example, drooping wormwood, seaside wormwood and others.
Individual steppe plants (for example, kermek) after drying form the so-called tumbleweed. At the end of summer, a dried stem of kermek is torn from the roots by a gust of wind and rolls along the ground, scattering seeds along the way. Other stems and twigs can cling to it: the result is a rather impressive dry lump. Common Kermek blooms pink, purple or yellow small flowers. Based on it, many cultivated varieties have now been bred, which are widely used in landscape design. Species of the genus Sveda, small-leaved and creeping, widespread on saline soils, are, respectively, a small shrub and with reddening stems. They are readily eaten by camels. Like them, saltwort also serves as livestock feed in the autumn-winter season. Soda was previously extracted from its ashes.
All steppe plants have their own characteristics that allow them to survive in conditions of heat and lack of moisture. These include powerful roots, early flowering at individual species, narrow leaves, etc.
Steppes are the richest communities in species drought-resistant plants– xerophytes. They are common where the climate is warm but there is not enough rainfall for forest to grow. Steppe is “a type of vegetation represented by a community of drought-resistant perennial herbaceous plants dominated by turf grasses, less often sedges and onions.” If you analyze the geographical distribution of steppe landscapes on the globe, you will find -
It is believed that the most typical steppes are formed in the interior regions of the continent. Steppe zones of the temperate zones of the northern and southern hemispheres, characterized by a dry climate, treeless watersheds, and the dominance of herbaceous, predominantly cereal vegetation on chernozem, dark chestnut and chestnut soils.
The area is dominated by steppes, which are modified by pasture digression and represent low-grass pasture communities dominated by fescue and wormwood. The haymaking variants of the steppe have been preserved in small fragments, among which there are the southern, northern and central variants, which represent the transition between the northern and the southern. In the steppes of the central variant, if they are not disturbed by grazing, feather feather grass, Zelesssky feather grass, and narrow-leaved feather grass are common. In addition, there are fescue and forbs are very abundantly represented. The steppe also includes shrubs - caragana, spirea, gorse, and broom.
In addition to the mountain steppes, solonetzic steppes have been preserved in small fragments on the plain, which usually include Lerch's wormwood, Gmelin's kermek, and false wheatgrass. It is typical for the steppe on gravelly soils
participation of species - petrophytes, i.e. stone lovers - protozoan onosma, thyme, mountain grate, Siberian cornflower and others. Such steppes are especially easily destroyed by pasture digression. The productivity of steppe hayfields is up to 4-5 c/ha
Hay, the productivity of steppe pastures as a result of overgrazing is low and amounts to no more than 15-20 c/ha of green mass
for the entire grazing period. According to the classification, according to the research of Professor Mirkin B.M. , all steppes of the Republic of Bashkortostan can be divided into two main types - meadow and typical. Meadows are common in the forest-steppe zone, and in the steppe zone they gravitate towards the slopes of northern exposure.
Typical steppes occupy areas in the steppe zone of the republic.
Ball-headed Echinops
Biennial or perennial herbaceous plant from the Asteraceae family. The height of the plant reaches 1.5 m. The stem is single, straight, branched at the top. It is covered with glandular hairs. The leaves are twice pinnately dissected, large, 10 to 25 cm long and 4 to 10 cm wide. Rosette leaves with a petiole, the rest sessile, stem-embracing. They are green above and covered with white felt below, with small spines along the edges. The flowers are collected in spherical inflorescences and are bluish-white in color. The spherical heads have a diameter of 4-5 cm. Seed fruits. It grows in river valleys, among bushes, on the edges of island forests, and in wastelands.
The plant population on the Roman Mountain hill is represented by single plants. Occasionally there are “islands” of 5-10 plants. In general, the plants are in good living condition.
Yarrow
A perennial herbaceous plant from the Asteraceae family. A plant with an erect stem. In the conditions of the Republic of Belarus, its height ranges from 48 to 72 cm. Several shoots of stems extend from a thin creeping rhizome. The basal leaves are lanceolate, bipinnately dissected into narrow small lobules. Stem leaves are shorter, pinnately dissected.
Stem leaves are shorter, pinnately dissected, divided into big number lobes The inflorescence is corymbose, consisting of many flower baskets. The flowers are small, white, mauve or reddish. It blooms in June-August for a very long time.
It grows everywhere on the hill, where there are areas of meadow steppe. It is especially common on the southern side of the slope in flat places, where cattle often graze and closer to the Asly-Udryak River.
Asparagus officinalis
A perennial herbaceous plant from the lily family. The stem of asparagus is erect, reaching a height of up to 150 cm, and highly branched. The branches on the stem extend at an acute angle. The leaves are reduced to scales, and modified shoots resembling leaves are formed in the axils of the stem. The underground stem is straight and smooth. It is juicy, etiolated, forming shoots extending from the rhizome. These stems are used as a vegetable plant. The flowers are small, greenish-yellow. Perianth of six petals with 6 stamens. The fruit is a red spherical berry. Blooms in June – July. Asparagus grows in meadows, among thickets of bushes, and is also found in the steppe, on the slopes of mountains.
It is quite rare in the study area. Found in areas adjacent to the forest belt and located between rows of trees inside the forest belt. The population is represented by single plants.
Adonis spring
A perennial herbaceous plant from the buttercup family. Adonis has a push-pull development - at the beginning
It blooms early, followed by the formation of stems and leaves. Blooms early in spring - from late April to May. A bush with up to 20-30 flowers blooms from 40 to 50 days. The very first flowers, as a rule, are large, but they are pale yellow, golden, apical, solitary, and are abundantly visited by bees. Adonis at the beginning of flowering has a bush height of 10 to 15 cm, and in the fruiting phase it reaches 30-70 cm. Each bush has from 2 to 15 generative and from 4 to 23 vegetative shoots.
Found everywhere in the study area. The population consists of more than 150 plants that are in good vital condition.
Budra ivy-shaped
A perennial herbaceous plant from the Lamiaceae family. Budra has a creeping and branched stem; it takes root, forming new stems. The leaves are petiolate, opposite, crenate-toothed, rounded, kidney-shaped. They are covered with hairs. Flowers 3-4 pcs. located in the axils of the middle stem leaves, they are small, two-lipped, violet-blue or bluish-lilac in color. The pedicels are 4-5 times shorter than the calyx and are equipped with awl-shaped bracts. The calyx is covered with hairs; its teeth are triangular, finely pointed. The height of the rising stems ranges from 10 to 40 cm. It blooms in May-June.
Grows along the ravine and on the southern side of the slope. Large population, studied during the beginning of flowering.
St. John's wort
A perennial herbaceous plant from the St. John's wort family. The stem is straight, 45 to 80 cm high, glabrous, with two edges. The leaves are oblong-ovate, entire, opposite, sessile. Translucent dotted containers that resemble holes are scattered on the leaves - hence the name - perforated.
The flowers are numerous, golden-yellow in color, collected in a wide paniculate, almost corymbose inflorescence. Sepals are sharp with an entire edge. The petals are twice as long as the sepals, blooms in June-July. The fruit is a three-lobed multi-seeded basket, opening with 3 valves. The rhizome is thin, several stems extend from it.
Found only in one place on the eastern flat side of the hill. Represented by 8-15 plants.
Veronica dubravnaya
Perennial herbaceous plant. Preserves green shoots all year round. The leaves are located opposite, in the axils of the racemes of irregular flowers. A flower has 2 stamens and 1 pistil. The fruit of Veronica is a flattened capsule.
Grows in meadow areas of the steppe of the study area. Plants are evenly distributed among other species. Often found on the outskirts of forest belts.
Bonfire without bones
Belongs to the cereal family. It has smooth stems reaching one meter in height. The leaves are flat and wide. The spikelets are collected into an inflorescence - a spreading panicle. Bonfire is a good forage grass; it blooms from late May to June. Many tall, erect shoots of flower stalks extend from the creeping rhizome.
In plant communities of the hill it is an environment-forming species, because found evenly often almost everywhere.
knotweed
An annual herbaceous plant from the buckwheat family. A small plant with a height of 10 to 40 cm. It has straight, prostrate, branched stems. The leaves are elliptical or lanceolate, small, with a short root. The flowers are located in the axils of the leaves, distributed evenly throughout the plant. The corolla of the flower is pale pink. The fruit is a triangular nut. It blooms from May to October. It grows along roads, in streets, in yards, in pastures. On pastures where there is a heavy load of livestock, all types of plants suffer, leaving only knotweed.
This species is well defined at the foot of the hill from the side of the river and the animal stable. Almost never found in the main system.
Common cress
Herbaceous plant from the cruciferous family. Bright green rosettes of colza made of fancy lyre-shaped ones. pinnately dissected leaves in large quantities visible in fields plowed last fall. Blooms in May-June. With an abundance of sun and moisture from melted snow, the cress quickly develops a flowering shoot with a cluster of yellow flowers. The fruit is multi-seeded, dehiscent by two valves. A good honey plant.
It grows unevenly in the vegetation cover of the hill and is found mostly on the side of the field located closer to the eastern slope.
Kozelets purple
Achenes at the base with a hollow, swollen stalk, 12 mm long, ribbed, light gray. Stems are straight and erect, furrowed, simple and branched. The basal leaves are on long petioles, pinnate and dissected, with narrow linear lateral segments. The baskets are cylindrical, the involucre is weakly arachnoid, then bare, its leaves are lanceolate, sometimes with a horn-like appendage. Flowers yellow, marginal with outside reddish.
It grows on a hill on the lawns between the trees of the forest belt. It occurs moderately often, the population consists of single plants that are located at a relatively short distance from each other - from 40 to 60 cm.
Karagana
Belongs to the legume family. A shrub with gray straight thin branches, with four closely spaced obovate leaves with a wedge-shaped base and thorns at the apex; flowers are golden-yellow with a wide obovate sail, a blunt boat, concentrated 2-3 on single peduncles, which are twice as long as the calyx, beans up to 3 cm long, glabrous, cylindrical, 1-4 seeds.
It grows mainly on the western slope of the mountain, in the ravine and the adjacent ravine on the northern side.
Nonea dark
Belongs to the borage family. The entire plant is covered with protruding stiff hairs and sparse glandular hairs. The leaves are oblong-lanceolate, the lower ones are narrowed in the petioles, the rest are sessile, semi-stem-encompassing. The bracts are lanceolate, longer than the flowers, dark red-brown in color. The calyx is bell-shaped, incised to one part. The calyx lobes are lanceolate. The nuts are net-wrinkled.
It grows everywhere on the hill, it was studied and identified at the beginning of flowering.
Bell
Belongs to the bellflower family. The flowers are numerous, in a large branched inflorescence. The corolla is funnel-shaped, bell-shaped, blue or white. Stem with dense foliage. The leaves are large-serrate, glabrous or pubescent.
Grows in communities of studied plants between cereal plants. It is rare; there are only about 30 plants in the population.
Veronica longifolia
Belongs to the Norichnikov family. The leaves are unequally serrated to the very top with finely pointed,
Simple or to the base of the b.ch. double serrated, oblong or linear-lanceolate, sharp at the base, heart-shaped or rounded, often whorled. The inflorescence is a terminal dense raceme, extending up to 25 cm, sometimes with several lateral racemes; flowers on stalks, almost equal to calyxes. Corolla blue about 6 mm. Long, with a hairy tube inside. The entire plant is glabrous or with short grayish pubescence.
The distribution of this plant in the studied ecosystem is moderately rare. Grows as individual plants or 2-3 individuals.
Violet is amazing
Belongs to the violet family. Stem up to 30 cm tall. The petioles of large broad-heart-shaped stem leaves are grooved, pubescent only on the convex, downward-facing hairs. The stipules of the stem leaves are large, entire, the stipules are large, rusty-red.
On a hill it grows in places with low grasses or among low grass cover, loves rocky surface areas.
Forest anemone
Ranunculaceae family. Perennial. Stem leaves are not fused, similar to basal leaves, short-haired. The flowers are yellow-white.
It grows in small “families” between pine rows of trees and separately on open slopes on the eastern and northern sides of the Roman Mountain hill.
Field bindweed
Belongs to the bindweed family. A bare or scatteredly drooping plant with recumbent, creeping or climbing shoots. Flowers are up to 3.5 cm in diameter, usually collected in groups of 2-3 or single. Bracts in the form of a pair of small linear leaves are located oppositely in the middle of the peduncle and do not reach the calyx. The corolla is pink, rarely white.
Grows in areas with other meadow plants on the side of the ravine and river.
Onosma Preuralskaya
Belongs to the borage family. The pedicels are very short, much shorter than the bracts. The whole plant is hard and rough. The stem is straight, simple, less often branched, covered with hard, spaced bristles and thick down. The basal leaves are numerous, petiolate, linear, the stem leaves are sessile, linear-lanceolate.
Likes open sunny places with rocky soil. Grows in crowded bushes. Very interesting during the flowering period. On the Roman Mountain hill there are not many plants on the top on the south side. Numerical counting showed about 20 plants.
Lowland wormwood
Belongs to the Asteraceae family. The root is vertical, woody, developing branched flowering shoots and straight ribbed reddening branched flowering stems. The leaves of sterile shoots and the lower stem leaves are double-, thrice-pinnately dissected, their lobules are narrow-linear 3-10 mm long, barely pointed, the middle and upper stem leaves are sessile, the bracts are short, narrow-linear. The outer leaves of the involucre are oval, almost round, convex, green along the back, the inner leaves are broadly membranous along the edge.
Well expressed as a cover plant on the southern slope of the Roman Mountain hill. Plants below regular size, which indicates oppression by pasture load.
- Mountain, steppes with lush alpine vegetation and high-mountain ones, characterized by sparse and inconspicuous vegetation, mainly consisting of grains and breakweed.
- Meadow. Steppes, characterized by the presence of small forests forming clearings and edges.
- Real ones. Steppes with a large predominance of feather grass and fescue growing on them. These are the most typical plants of the steppe.
- Saz - steppes, consisting of plants adapting to arid climates, shrubs.
- Desert steppes on which desert grasses grow: tumbleweed, wormwood, and twig
- It is also necessary to say a few words about forest-steppes, which are characterized by the alternation of deciduous forests and coniferous forests with areas of steppes, since steppe and forest-steppe plants differ only in subspecies.
The steppe has its embodiment on every continent except Antarctica, and on different continents it has its own name: in North America it is prairie, in South America- pampa (pampas), in South America, Africa and Australia - this is savanna. In New Zealand the steppe is called tussoki.
Let's take a closer look at what plants grow in the steppe.
Types of steppe plants
- Krupka. This annual plant the cruciferous family, growing in the highlands and tundra. There are about 100 varieties of semolina, characteristic of our steppes. It is characterized by a branched stem with oblong leaves, topped with tassels of yellow flowers. Flowering period April - July. In folk herbal medicine, semolina is used as a hemostatic, expectorant and diuretic.
- Breaker. It is also an annual plant, approximately 25 cm long and has oblong leaves, many flower shoots, each of which ends in an inflorescence consisting of tiny white flowers. Prolomnik is used as an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, diuretic and hemostatic, as well as an anticonvulsant for epilepsy
- Poppy. Depending on the species, it is an annual or perennial herb with flower buds on long stalks. It grows on rocky slopes, near mountain streams and rivers, in fields, along roads. And although poppies are poisonous, they are widely used in herbal medicine as a soothing and sleeping pill for insomnia, as well as for certain diseases of the intestines and bladder.
- Tulips are perennial herbaceous plants steppes of the lily family with large and bright flowers. They mainly grow in semi-desert, desert and mountainous areas.
- Astragalus. There are more than 950 species of this plant of various colors and shades, growing in desert and dry steppes, in forest zones and alpine meadows. It is widely used for edema, dropsy, gastroenteritis, diseases of the spleen, as a tonic, as well as for headaches and hypertension.
- Feather grass. It is also a diverse herb. There are more than 60 of them, and the most common of them is feather grass. This perennial cereal family. Feather grass grows up to 1 meter tall with smooth stems and spinous leaves. Feather grass is used as a decoction in milk for goiter and paralysis.
- Mullein. This is a large (up to 2 m) plant with hairy leaves and large yellow flowers. Studies of the plant have shown the presence in its flowers of many useful substances, such as flavonoids, saponins, coumarin, gum, essential oil, glycoside aucubin, content of ascorbic acid and carotene. Therefore, the plant is actively used as food supplement in salads and hot dishes, prepare drinks, and also eat fresh.
- Melissa officinalis. It is a perennial tall herb with a distinct lemon scent. The stems of the plant are crowned with bluish-purple flowers, which are collected in false rings. Melissa leaves contain essential oil, ascorbic acid, some organic acids.
- Camel thorn is a subshrub, up to 1 meter in height, with a powerful root system, bare stems with long spines and red (pink) flowers. Camel thorn is widespread in the riverine area, growing along ditches and canals, in wastelands and irrigated lands. The plant contains many vitamins, some organic acids, rubber, resins, tannins, essential oil, as well as carotene and wax. A decoction of the plant is used for colitis, gastritis and stomach ulcers.
- Sagebrush. This is a herbaceous or subshrub plant found almost everywhere. The entire plant has a straight stem with thin pinnately divided leaves and yellowish flowers collected in inflorescences. Wormwood is used as a herb, and its essential oil is used in perfumery and cosmetics. Wormwood is also important as a forage plant for livestock.
- So, we looked at only some types of steppe plants. And, of course, differences in the landscape leave their mark on appearance herbs growing on it, but, nevertheless, some general properties can be identified. So steppe plants are characterized by:
- Branched root system
- Root bulbs
- Fleshy stems and thin, narrow leaves
The steppe zone is characterized by a flat landscape and a complete absence of trees. Therefore, the flora is represented mainly by herbs. In the temperate zone of Eurasia, grasses grow (varieties of feather grass, bluegrass, wheatgrass, legumes) and bulbous plants. Shrubs are occasionally found. A thick turf layer formed by the interweaving of grass rhizomes, as well as the duration of dry periods and lack of moisture, prevent the germination of tree seeds.
A video about the steppes of Ukraine will help you get a more complete impression of the nature of the steppe zone of Eurasia.
IN spring period The temperate steppe amazes with a riot of colors: plants of the bulbous family bloom beautifully.
Feather grass is the most common steppe plant of the grass family, forming a turf layer. Ripened seeds, thanks to the awn covered with a white edge attached to them, fly over long distances.
The “gray” fields of flowering feather grass, a typical steppe plant, look very unusual.
The most typical representative of the steppe can rightfully be considered wheatgrass. This perennial herb has a very dense, tough rhizome, which forms numerous shoots and penetrates even dry soil. The height of wheatgrass in a favorable period reaches 1 m in height; during the flowering period the plant throws out an ear.
In the east North America there are meadow prairies, which are characterized by rich grass stands, heavily turfed soil and instability of alternating drought and rainfall. The Great Plains are similar to the Eurasian steppes and are rich in tall grasses. The following plants grow here: feather grass, Gerardi's bearded grass, Grama grass, phlox, dicotyledons, asters. In the west, the prairies are drier, so the vast majority of plants are low-growing cereals, wormwood, bulbous plants, and in the southern regions - cacti.
It is a turfgrass that grows as a bush, its roots helping to form turf. The height of the plant reaches 2.5 m in height, the leaf width is up to 1 cm. It is very decorative, painted orange or dark red in autumn.
Pampas in South America, in effect low level average annual precipitation, have more sparse vegetation. Grass-sedge grass stands, alfalfa, barley, and succulents, one of the subspecies of which are cacti, are typical for them.
The term "steppe" has a very broad meaning. From the point of view of geobotany, the steppe is a collective concept that unites the herbaceous vegetation of watershed spaces of a more or less dry-loving nature.
Steppes can cover flat watersheds (here they are almost completely destroyed), slopes, and hills. There are flat, hilly and mountain steppes. But the most typical for each region are flat steppes, occupying relatively flat watershed spaces. Usually the main characteristics of the vegetation of the zone are given specifically for such steppes.
When moving from north to south, the appearance of the steppes in flatland conditions reveals regular changes, the analysis of which allows us to identify several subzones of steppe vegetation.
Within the forest-steppe zone on treeless watersheds in the past, forb-meadow Steppes were ubiquitous. We can now judge their composition from small islands of protected steppes in the Central Black Earth Region. Humus-rich soils and sufficient moisture contributed to the development of a high and dense grass cover here, creating continuous retention. The grass cover of these steppes is especially rich in meadow-steppe forbs; in spring and early summer it forms a bright, colorful carpet, constantly changing its color.
Among the grasses of this subzone, loose-bush and rhizomatous plants with relatively wide leaf blades predominate: bromegrass, meadow bluegrass, ground reed grass, and steppe timothy. Of the feather grasses, only the most moisture-loving ones are found here, most often John’s feather grass and angustifolia.
The forbs are dominated by meadow sage, tuber grass, meadowsweet, mountain clover, sandy sainfoin, wood anemone, mountain grass, sleep grass, etc.
E.M. Lavrenko (1940) distinguished two variants of mixed-grass meadow steppes - northern and southern. A remarkable monument of the southern version of these steppes is the Streletskaya steppe under
Kursk, where V.V. Alekhin (1925) in flat conditions encountered up to 120 species on an area of 100 m2, and 77 on 1 m2. Distinctive feature forb-meadow steppes - their extraordinary colorfulness, multiple changes in color in spring and early summer, caused by alternating mass flowering various types of forbs.
To the south of the forb-meadow steppes there is a subzone of typical (or true) steppes. The overwhelming majority of their herbage consists of narrow-leaved turf grasses, mainly feather grass and fescue, which is why these steppes received the name grasses, or feather grasses. Among the feather grasses, Lessing's feather grass and feather grass are predominant. In the south of Ukraine, in addition, Ukrainian feather grass is common, and in Northern Kazakhstan and Western Siberia- reddish feather grass.
Forbs in typical steppes play a subordinate role, as a result of which they are less bright and not as colorful as those more northern.
Turf perennial grasses, which form the basis of the grass stand of typical steppes, never create a continuous sod of the soil. Between the tufts of cereals there are always areas of bare soil, the area of which increases to the south. The reason for the increasing thinning of grass grass to the south is the lack of moisture in the soils of the steppe zone. The root system of turf grasses itself has an extensive network of very thin roots near the surface, capable of capturing moisture from even the slightest summer precipitation.
The proportion of grasses in the grass stand of typical steppes is very large. According to B.A. Keller (1938), in the feather grass steppes of the Central Black Earth Region, cereals provide more than 90% of the total mass of hay. In the fescue-feather grass association of the Askania-Nova Nature Reserve they specific gravity ranges from 79 to. 98% of the total plant mass. Numerous ephemerals and ephemeroids find shelter between the tufts of cereals. These include common stonefly, different kinds goose onions, brightly blooming Schrenk and Bieberstein tulips.
In the life of typical steppes, the underground, root part of plants is of great importance. In the upper soil horizons there are complexly branched underground parts of the plant community. At the same time, the plant mass of the underground part is much higher than that of the aboveground part. Thus, in the cereal steppes of Askania-Nova, per 1 g of live aboveground parts accounts for from 8 to 30 g of root mass. According to the research of M. S. Shalyt (1950), from 37 to 70% of the total root mass is concentrated here at a depth of 0 to 12 cm. However, the depth of root penetration is not limited by the humus horizon. The roots of taproot perennials in the Askania-Nova steppes (for example, such as pyrethrum millifolia, some sedges) penetrate to a depth of 1.5-2.5 m.
Typical steppes, in turn, are divided into two main options. In the northern part of the subzone, on ordinary and southern chernozems, forb-fescue-feather grass steppes (“colorful feather grass”) are widespread. In these steppes, gradually decreasing northern forbs (meadowsweet, sleep grass, mountain clover) are mixed with drought-resistant forbs (steppe and drooping sage, angustifolia peony, crescent alfalfa, prickly sage, many-flowered capstia, real and Russian bedstraw, noble yarrow). There are still relatively few ephemeroids here.
The reference areas of forb-fescue-feather grass steppes are considered to be the Starobelskaya steppe in the Seversky Donets basin, studied back in 1894 by G.I. Tanfilyev.
Fescue-feather grass steppes (“colorless feather grass”) are developed on dark chestnut soils and partly on southern chernozems. On the Russian Plain they do not have a continuous distribution and consist of several massifs. But east of the Volga, and especially beyond the Urals, they stretch in a wide strip. Fescue and southern feather grass species dominate in these steppes. The forbs here are poor and very drought-resistant: hairy beetroot, Caspian ferula, thin-leaved yarrow, pyrethrum species. in spring important role ephemeroids play - tulips and goose bows. In the strip of fescue-feather grass steppes there are quite a lot of solonetzes and solonetzic soils with fescue-wormwood and wormwood groups. The standard of fescue-feather grass steppes of the Russian Plain is Askania-Nova. In other places west of the Volga they practically did not survive anywhere. They are best preserved in the Volga region, the Southern Urals and Kazakhstan.
To the east of the Volga, especially in Western Kazakhstan and the Trans-Urals, fescue (dry) steppes developed. V.V. Ivanov (1958) considered them an analogue of real tussock-grass low-forb steppes.
Characteristic features of fescue steppes that make it easy to identify them are:
- the undivided dominance of fescue, which is joined by the feather grass of Tyrsa, Lessing, Sarepta, occupying a clearly subordinate position;
- a sharp reduction in the role of forbs;
- the disappearance of common steppe shrubs of bean, spirea and chiliga from the grass stand of the flat steppe and their isolation in depressions;
- the appearance of xerophytic subshrubs (white wormwood, prostrate grass, millennial pyrethrum);
- weak solonetsity of soils or even its complete absence (Ivanov, 1958, p. 29).
Fescue, like others more northern types steppes, now almost completely plowed. We can say that their typical lowland variants have now completely disappeared. Their structure can now be judged either from geobotanical descriptions of old authors, or from the pitiful patches of these steppes preserved near the slopes.
To the south of the steppe zone (practically already in a semi-desert on chestnut, less often on dark chestnut soils) a subzone of desert wormwood-fescue-feather grass steppes is distinguished. In the herbage of the subzone, in addition to narrow-leaved turf grasses (fescue, wheatgrass, feather grass), there are many drought-resistant subshrubs: wormwood, saltwort, and twig grass. The grass stand here is usually open. The vegetation cover is characterized by complexity and patchiness.
While studying these steppes, back in 1907 N.A. Dimo and B.A. Keller (1907) introduced the concept of “semi-desert” into the literature. Clarifying it, Academician B.A. Keller (1923) wrote that semi-deserts should include “associations in which, due to sparseness, low stature, and the like, along with grasses of a steppe nature - fescue, feather grass, thin-legged grass - such dry-loving plants play a large role subshrubs, like sea wormwood and kochia” (p. 147).
There was great debate on the issue of identifying a subzone of desert steppes or “steppe deserts”. We mention them here only because the transition from steppes to deserts does not occur immediately, but gradually and sometimes, surrounded by real desert landscapes, you can find islands of steppes.
In general, when moving from north to south, the following regular changes in vegetation are observed, noted by V.V. Alekhine (1934) and his followers.
- The grass stand is becoming thinner and thinner.
- The beauty of the steppes is greatly reduced as the number of dicotyledonous plants decreases.
- In the north, perennials reign supreme; to the south, the role of annuals increases.
- The number of broad-leaved grasses is decreasing and they are being replaced by narrow-leaved grasses.
- There is a change in the types of feather grasses - from large-turf to small-turf.
- Species richness decreases from 80 species per 1 m2 in meadow steppes to 3-5 in desert steppes.
- The seasonal dynamics of the steppe vegetation cover is becoming more and more arrhythmic. To the south, the spring burst of flowering is shortened.
- Relative mass underground parts plants increases in comparison with aboveground ones to the south.
It remains to add that the appearance of the steppes changes not only from north to south, but also to no less extent from west to east. The reason for this is the already mentioned increase in continentality towards the center of Eurasia. Suffice it to say that in different sectors of the steppe belt they grow different types feather grass (Ukrainian in the Black Sea region, red in Kazakhstan, Krylova in Khakassia, etc.).
Toward the center of the continent, the species abundance of the steppes sharply decreases. Thus, in the meadow steppes of the Russian Plain there are more than 200 species of grasses, in Western Siberia - 55-80, Khakassia - 40-50. The vegetation of the dry steppes of Askania-Nova in the Black Sea region is formed by 150 representatives of the grass cover, and in Khakassia - only 30-35 species.
However, based on these comparisons, the inland steppes should not be considered impoverished. It would be more correct to say that the European steppes are enriched with meadow herbs. We must judge the authenticity of the steppe by the participation of true steppe plants- xerophytes. Their share in meadow steppes Southern Urals about 60%, and near Kursk - only 5-12%.
The greater typicality, and therefore increased stability, of steppe ecosystems inside the continent compared to the outskirts can be judged by the degree of development of root phytomass, one of the main indicators of vegetation adaptability to steppe conditions. The root reserves of steppe plants to the east are steadily increasing. According to Siberian ecologists and landscape scientists, in relation to the local steppes, the notorious question does not arise: “...is the forest encroaching on the steppe, or vice versa” (Titlyanova et al., 1983). The positions of steppe vegetation, represented to the east of the Urals by typical xerophytes with thick turfs, exclude the encroachment of forests on the steppes. The steppes of the Russian Plain with moisture-loving European herbs are not so resistant to forests.
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