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What steppe is occupied by Asia. Great steppe. The Great Steppe as a geographical concept

steppe steppe, great steppe Eurasian steppe(also Eurasian steppes Eurasia.

The Great Steppe as a geographical concept

steppe steppe, great steppe Eurasian steppe(also Eurasian steppes) is the generalized name of the natural region occupying the central part of the Eurasia continent. The predominant landscape is steppe and forest-steppe, in places desert and semi-desert. It stretches from west to east, reaching a width of about 1,000 km, a length of over 6,000. From north to south, it is crossed by full-flowing rivers - the Dnieper, Don, Volga, Ural and others. From ancient, prehistoric times, the inhabitants of these lands were people of different races, peoples, languages, faiths, cultures and occupations, the mixture of which created and in our time defines unique cultural characteristics this region. The vast expanses of the Eurasian steppes have been inhabited since ancient times by both nomadic and agricultural peoples. Even in Herodotus we find mention of steppe nomads and steppe farmers. On the lands of the Great Steppe we see various peoples of Slavic, Turkic, Mongolian, Iranian and Finno-Ugric origin. The nomadic way of life prevails in these territories until the 19th century, after which the sedentary and semi-nomadic way of life begins to play an important role in the region, on the basis of which a unique urban culture, different from the European one, is formed. Importance The territorial expansion of Russia, mainly by the resettlement method of the 19th-20th centuries, played in the establishment of a settled way of life in the steppes. Conventionally, the Eurasian steppe is divided into several subregions - the Pontic-Caspian steppe, the Wild Field, the Russian Plain, the Baraba steppe, the Kazakh steppe and the Kalmyk steppes, various hollows, lowlands. From the Middle Danubian plain, where the Hungarians who roamed the Eurasian steppe settled in the 10th century, the Eurasian one is separated by the Carpathians. In the south and southeast, the steppes are washed by the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas.

The Great Steppe as a historical, cultural and economic region

The name Great Steppe can also refer to the entire vast region that was part of the Mongol Empire, in which the Eurasian steppes played a system-forming role, although they made up only part of its lands. If we study the history of the region from ancient times to the present day (including the period of the USSR), it will be noticeable that this region in our time is a single whole, with a unique centuries-old culture and worldview. Among other names - the Steppe, Scythia, Tartaria.

Despite the change by the peoples of the region during their history of their occupation, faith, language, name, etc., the history of many cultural and worldview features of local residents can be traced back to ancient times. Similar steppe traditions, mentality and cultural characteristics can be found among the Kazakhs, Tatars, Mongols, Chinese and Eastern Slavs(Russians, Ukrainians), especially Cossacks. This allows us to consider this region as a whole on a par with such regions as Europe, Latin America etc., uniting countries and cultures under the common name Steppe, and the inhabitants of the region under the common name - steppe people.

Geographical position

It is located in the eastern part of the Eurasian continent, in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it borders on Europe along the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, on Africa along the Suez Canal, and on America along the Bering Strait. It is washed by the waters of the Pacific, Arctic and Indian oceans, inland seas belonging to the basin Atlantic Ocean. The coastline is slightly indented, such large peninsulas are distinguished: Hindustan, Arabian, Kamchatka, Chukotka, Taimyr.

Main geographical features

3/4 of the Asian territory is occupied by mountains and plateaus (Himalayas, Pamir, Tien Shan, Greater Caucasus, Altai, Sayan Mountains), the rest - by plains (West Siberian, North Siberian, Kolyma, Great Chinese, etc.). On the territory of Kamchatka, the islands of East Asia and the Malaysian coast, there is a large number of active, active volcanoes. highest point Asia and the world - Chomolungma in the Himalayas (8848 m), the lowest - 400 meters below sea level (Dead Sea).

Asia can be safely called a part of the world where great waters flow. to the North basin Arctic Ocean include the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Irtysh, Lena, Indigirka, Kolyma, the Pacific Ocean - Anadyr, Amur, Huanghe, Yangtze, Mekong, indian ocean- Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus, the inland basin of the Caspian, Aral Seas and Lake Balkhash - Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Kura. The largest sea-lakes are the Caspian and Aral, tectonic lakes are Baikal, Issyk-Kul, Van, Rezaye, Lake Teletskoye, salty ones are Balkhash, Kukunor, Tuz.

The territory of Asia lies in almost all climatic zones, the northern regions are the Arctic zone, the southern ones are the equatorial one, the main part is under the influence of a sharply continental climate, which is characterized by Cold winter with low temperatures and hot, dry summers. Precipitation mainly falls in the summer, only in the Middle and Near East - in winter.

The distribution of natural zones is characterized by latitudinal zonality: the northern regions are tundra, then taiga, a zone of mixed forests and forest-steppe, a zone of steppes with a fertile layer of chernozem, a zone of deserts and semi-deserts (Gobi, Takla-Makan, Karakum, deserts Arabian Peninsula), which are separated by the Himalayas from the southern tropical and subtropical zone, Southeast Asia lies in the zone of equatorial rainforests.

Asian countries

Asia hosts 48 sovereign states, 3 officially unrecognized republics (Waziristan, Nagorno-Karabakh, Shan State,) 6 dependent territories (in the Indian and Pacific Ocean) - a total of 55 countries. Some countries are partially located in Asia (Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Yemen, Egypt and Indonesia). The largest Asian states are Russia, China, India, Kazakhstan, the smallest - the Comoros, Singapore, Bahrain, Maldives.

Depending on the geographical location, cultural and regional features It is customary to divide Asia into East, West, Central, South and Southeast.

List of Asian countries

Major Asian countries:

(with detailed description)

Nature

Nature, plants and animals of Asia

The diversity of natural zones and climatic zones determines the diversity and uniqueness of both the flora and fauna of Asia, a huge number of diverse landscapes allows a variety of representatives of the plant and animal kingdom to live here...

North Asia, located in the zone of the Arctic desert and tundra, is characterized by poor vegetation: mosses, lichens, dwarf birches. Further, the tundra gives way to the taiga, where huge pines, spruces, larches, firs, Siberian cedars. The taiga in the Amur region is followed by a zone of mixed forests (Korean cedar, white fir, Olginskaya larch, Sayan spruce, Mongolian oak, Manchurian walnut, green-bark and bearded maple), which is adjoined by broad-leaved forests (maple, linden, elm, ash, walnut) , in the south turning into steppes with fertile chernozems.

In Central Asia, the steppes, where feather grass, vostrets, tokonog, wormwood, forbs grow, are replaced by semi-deserts and deserts, the vegetation here is poor and is represented by various salt-loving and sand-loving species: wormwood, saxaul, tamarisk, dzhuzgun, ephedra. For subtropical belt in the west of the Mediterranean climatic zone, the growth of evergreen hard-leaved forests and shrubs (maquis, pistachios, olives, junipers, myrtle, cypress, oak, maple) is characteristic, for the Pacific coast - monsoon mixed forests (camphor laurel, myrtle, camellia, podocarpus, cunningamia, species of oak, camphor laurel, Japanese pine, cypresses, cryptomeria, arborvitae, bamboo, gardenias, magnolias, azaleas). A large number of palm trees (about 300 species), tree ferns, bamboo, and pandanus grow in the zone of equatorial forests. The vegetation of mountainous regions, in addition to the laws of latitudinal zonality, is subject to the principles of altitudinal zonality. At the foot of the mountains grow conifers and mixed forests, on the peaks - juicy alpine meadows.

The fauna of Asia is rich and varied. The territory of Western Asia has favorable conditions for antelopes, roe deer, goats, foxes, as well as a huge number of rodents, inhabitants of the lowlands - wild boars, pheasants, geese, tigers and leopards. AT northern regions located mainly on the territory of Russia, in the North Eastern Siberia and the tundra, wolves, elks, bears, ground squirrels, arctic foxes, deer, lynxes, wolverines live. Ermine, arctic fox, squirrels, chipmunks, sable, ram, white hare live in the taiga. In dry areas Central Asia ground squirrels, snakes, jerboas, birds of prey live, in South Asia - elephants, buffaloes, wild boars, lemurs, lizards, wolves, leopards, snakes, peacocks, flamingos, in East Asia - elk, bears, Ussuri tigers and wolves, ibises, ducks - tangerines, owls, antelopes, mountain sheep, giant salamanders living on the islands, a variety of snakes and frogs, a large number of birds.

Climatic conditions

Seasons, weather and climate of Asian countries

Peculiarities climatic conditions on the territory of Asia are formed under the influence of such factors as the large extent of the Eurasian continent both from north to south and west to east, a large number of mountain barriers and low-lying depressions that affect the amount of solar radiation and atmospheric circulation air...

Most of Asia is located in a sharply continental climatic zone, the eastern part is under the influence of the marine atmospheric masses of the Pacific Ocean, the north is subject to the invasion of Arctic air masses, tropical and equatorial air masses predominate in the south, mountain ranges stretching from the west prevent their penetration into the interior of the mainland to the East. Precipitation is unevenly distributed: from 22,900 mm per year in the Indian town of Cherrapunji in 1861 (considered the wettest place on our planet), to 200-100 mm per year in the desert regions of Central and Central Asia.

Peoples of Asia: culture and traditions

In terms of population, Asia ranks first in the world, with 4.2 billion people, which is 60.5% of all mankind on the planet, and three times after Africa in terms of population growth. In Asian countries, the population is represented by representatives of all three races: Mongoloid, Caucasoid and Negroid, the ethnic composition is diverse and diverse, several thousand peoples live here, speaking more than five hundred languages ...

Among the language groups, the most common are:

Sino-Tibetan. Represented by the most numerous ethnic group in the world - the Han (the Chinese, the population of China is 1.4 billion people, every fifth person in the world is Chinese);
Indo-European. Settled throughout the Indian subcontinent, these are Hindustanis, Biharis, Marathas (India), Bengalis (India and Bangladesh), Punjabis (Pakistan);
Austronesian. Live in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines) - Javanese, Bisaya, Sunds;
Dravidian. These are the peoples of Telugu, Kannara and Malayali (South India, Sri Lanka, some regions of Pakistan);
Austroasiatic. The largest representatives are the Viet, Lao, Siamese (Indochina, South China):
Altai. Turkic peoples, divided into two isolated groups: in the west - the Turks, Iranian Azerbaijanis, Afghan Uzbeks, in the east - the peoples of Western China (Uighurs). Also, the Manchus and Mongols of Northern China and Mongolia also belong to this language group;
Semitic-Hamitic. These are the Arabs of the western part of the continent (west of Iran and south of Turkey) and the Jews (Israel).

Also, peoples like the Japanese and Koreans stand out in a separate group called isolates, the so-called populations of people who, for various reasons, including geographical location, found themselves isolated from the outside world.

Don't worry, don't wake up
This quiet and sleepy
This is the voice of the steppe, this voice of the steppe
Monotone.

You see the white feather
Rushed under the wind
Dust over the roads
Raised kilometers.

And the midday heat
Becoming an annoying sound
Fills up, fills up
Weightlessness.

Where over withered grass
The cry of an eagle is heard,
The groundhog stood up
Over my marmot.

And in this silence
Under the killing sun
Mirages will float, mirages will float
to the horizons.

And around Kazakhstan,
And not just Russia.
And you are here, not there
You are not in your element.

And see yourself
You are suddenly an uninvited guest,
Like it's on its own, like it's on its own
Primordial.

Where a thousand miles
Only steppes, yes steppes,
Like the rustle of birches
Not on this planet.

Only the dryness of the dust
Only the blazing sun
Only the voice of the steppe, only the voice of the steppe
Monotone.

Steppe - these are treeless spaces with chernozem or chestnut soils, covered with grassy vegetation.

The climate in the steppes is arid, there is little precipitation, especially in summer. In the north, the steppes usually gradually turn into forest-steppes, in the south - into dry steppes or semi-deserts. A similar, but vertical, zonality can also be observed in the region of mountain steppes.

Steppes occupy the largest areas in the inland parts of the Northern Hemisphere within temperate zone, where steppe zones stretch from west to east in Europe and Asia and from north to south in North America.

AT South America steppes occupy vast areas in the foothills of the Andes.

In a large area, the steppes have long been plowed up (for example, in Europe and on the territory of Russia, virgin steppes, in small areas, have been preserved mainly in reserves). I note that back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were separate regions in Russia where arable farming was prohibited, as well as sheep and goat grazing, only hay and horse grazing (for example, the Salsky steppes on the lands of the Rostov Cossack district). As noted by V.A. Gilyarovsky, the local population (Kalmyks and Cossacks) was very sensitive to the ecosystem of the steppes ("Sheep eat the steppe ..." - they said).

But the Black Sea steppes were plowed up in the times of Ancient Greece and the Great Roman Empire. At least a third of all wheat was brought from the Northern Black Sea region.

The steppes are characterized by high summer and low winter temperatures, with low precipitation (from 250 to 450 mm per year). The average January temperature in different places is different and ranges from -2°С to -20°С

Maximum winter temperatures reach -25 -30°С in the west and up to -35

– 40°С in the east. Precipitation in winter is negligible, the average snow depth is usually 10-30 cm or less. The second half of winter is characterized by an increase in wind, sometimes up to storm force, and strong snowstorms (blizzards) often occur.

After a comparatively harsh winter comes a short spring. Most of the winter moisture reserves flow into the rivers in a few days, the soils are subject to significant erosion, which leads to the widespread development of a ravine-gully network.

Flat watersheds are characterized by shallow depressions of subsidence origin - "steppe saucers", some of which retain water throughout the summer. But many of them are salty.

The snow usually melts by April and the cold weather quickly turns to heat, although it can be very hot during the day and freezing at night!

The frost-free period lasts 165 days in the west and up to 120 days in the east. But summer in the steppe is often very hot - the average July temperature is 21°C - 27°C, which leads to intense drying of rivers and severe shallowing of lakes. Salt and saline lakes are often found in dry steppes. There are dry winds and dust storms in the warm season (after the steppe dries up).

Most plants in the steppe are drought-resistant: they tolerate a lack of moisture well. These drought- and frost-resistant herbaceous perennial plants with a predominance of turf grasses, feather grass, fescue, thin-legged, oats, bluegrass, etc., different kinds sedges and bulbous (for example, irises and tulips).

In Russia and the CIS countries (primarily in Kazakhstan), virgin steppes have been preserved only in the northern part of the Kazakh uplands and in southern Transbaikalia.

Large steppe islands surrounded by mountain taiga are the steppes of the Minusinsk and Tuva basins; in small areas, mainly on the southern slopes, the steppes extend far to the northeast. Siberia. Significant areas of the steppe are also occupied in the mountains of Transcaucasia, Western, Central and Central Asia, where they rise to the highlands.

In Russia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan, the steppes occupy very large areas - about one sixth of the total territory.

Plain steppes stretch in a wide continuous strip from the west to the Ob River. To the east of the Ob, sections of the steppe lie only as separate "islands". There are steppe areas and steppes in the Trans-Volga region, in the south of the Central Russian and Volga Uplands, in the Ciscaucasia, the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and the Black Sea region. Almost all of Mongolia and the northwestern part of China are endless steppes.

Mountain (or upland) steppes form a special belt in the mountains of the Caucasus and Central Asia, which is located between the semi-desert zone and the belt of high-mountain meadows.

The mountain steppes are better preserved. In spring it is excellent pasture for sheep and cattle. More even areas of mountain steppes are used as hayfields.

In addition to Eurasia, there are large steppe spaces in North America, but there the climate change occurs from east to west, as the Cordillera distributes air flows coming from the Pacific Ocean, and the zone of insufficient moisture and, along with it, the steppe zone - prairie, located from north to south along the eastern outskirts of the Cordillera.

In the prairies, in addition to endemic (i.e., characteristic) for this mainland turf species of feather grass, in less arid northern prairies various species of the bearded vulture are common, and in more arid regions, species of the genus Bouteloua.

The northern subzones of the steppes, closer to the forest-steppe, are characterized by forbs from various families of dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plants belonging to different biomorphs, some types of subshrubs (mainly wormwood) and steppe shrubs (in Europe and Asia from the genera Caragana, spirea, almonds).

In the more northern steppes, a moss cover is also sometimes developed, and in the more southern steppes, with a sparse grass cover, lichens are found (from the genera Parmelia, Cladonia, Cornicularia, etc.).

The vegetation cover of the steppes is very variable due to the alternation of dry and more rainy years, as well as the presence of excavating rodents - mice, marmots, jerboas, etc. the surface of the soil that "natural deposits" of ejected rock (clay and sand) appear on vast expanses, on which steppe vegetation is gradually restored anew.

Chernozem soils contain a lot of humus and carbonates and are distinguished by high natural fertility.

Fertility is lower on dark chestnut and chestnut soils due to the lower humus content and frequent alkalinity.

Solonetzes are often found in the steppes, sometimes solonchaks. Considering that significant areas of the steppes of Europe, and partly of Asia (territory of Russia) are plowed up and the sod cover is “broken” by overgrazing of livestock (primarily sheep), the preserved natural vegetation in the grassy steppes is represented by feather grass, fescue, thin-legged, bluegrass, and also serpentine in the steppes of Transbaikalia and Central Asia, gram and bison grass in the prairies of North America, and forbs in typical steppes play only a subordinate role, and in arid steppes the share of wormwood increases.

In some places, communities of shrubs (sloe, steppe cherry, bean, spirea, etc.) are also common, mainly forests are found along river floodplains and slopes of watercourses.

There is usually no continuous turfing in the steppes; between the tufts of cereals there are areas of soil on which ephemera and ephemeroids develop in spring. A number of steppe plants belong to the type of "tumbleweed" .

As already noted, on the East European Plain, virgin steppes have been preserved only in reserves. Due to recurring droughts, water and wind erosion of soils, agriculture in the steppes needs reclamation.

Better preserved natural landscapes of the steppes in the intermountain depressions Southern Siberia and in the mountains of Central Asia, where grazing plays an important role.

The most beautiful time in the steppe is spring!

This is how Professor V.V. Alekhin describes the herbaceous steppe: “...Imagine an immense space covered with a motley carpet of various colors, either forming a complex mosaic of bizarre addition, or representing separate spots of blue, yellow, red, white shades. Sometimes the vegetative carpet is so colorful, so bright that it begins to ripple in the eyes and the gaze seeks solace in the distant line of the horizon, where here and there one can see small mounds, mounds, or somewhere far beyond the beam, spots of curly oak forests loom.

On a hot June day, the air is filled with the incessant buzzing of countless bees and other insects visiting the flowers; now and then the quails scream, the gophers whistle. And in the evenings everything calms down, only sharp, strange sounds are heard made by dergachs hiding in the tall grass ... ".

The colors of the northern forb steppe are constantly changing - in early spring, as soon as the snow melts, it is brown in color, due to the remnants of last year's grass. But in a few days, the spring sun will wake up the steppe, and it will gradually begin to change - large purple pubescent bells of the lumbago (sleep-grass) bloom, green seedlings of cereals and sedges appear.

A few days later, the steppe changes again - golden stars of adonis (Adonis) will appear between the bells of sleep-grass. Pale blue hyacinth flowers also bloom, and between the flowers there is a gentle green haze of growing grass, wild peonies, irises and tulips.

A few more days and the steppe changed again - the sleep-grass faded, the golden stars of the adonis went out, the grasses rose and blossomed.

The steppe became bright green, with occasional white anemone stars and brushes of compost.

This is how April and May pass, and at the end of May or at the beginning of June the steppe is covered with a bright colorful carpet. On a green background, forget-me-nots are blue, yellow ragwort flowers sparkle, and white “feathers” sway above them - long pubescent awns on feather grass caryopses.

In mid-July, when summer is in full swing, the steppe turns dark purple - this is sage in bloom. But by the end of July, the sage fades, and the steppe becomes whitish - chamomile, mountain clover, fluffy cream meadowsweet bloom.

And the height of the herbage in the steppe is up to 70-90 cm, and sometimes up to a meter!

August ... It has not rained for a long time, the weather is hot, dry, some bright flowers are still blooming, but the colors of the steppe have faded, more and more brown and yellow spots appear - withered and dried plants.

Gradually, the whole steppe turns brown and yellow, and only individual flowers stand out against the yellow-brown background. At the end of August, they also disappear ...

And the main thing in the steppe is space, and even if the heat, the haze over the hills and valleys, the yellow steppe, burnt out in the merciless sun, but the smell, the smell of dust and wormwood, mounds, with unchanging marmot watchmen at the top, the wind carrying some strange memories arising from the depths of the subconscious... A horseman with a curved bow is about to appear, or a cavalry rushes, disturbing the steppe...

And at dusk, when the sun has already disappeared behind the hill and the steppe is illuminated by reddish clouds illuminated by the setting sun, silent dark figures on horseback are seen in the twilight, instantly appearing and just as instantly disappearing ... And at night - the starry sky, and burning meteors flashing in the black sky …

In the southern regions, small areas of the feather grass steppe have been preserved, which once covered the entire southern part Russian plain.

Now feather grass is found only in certain areas of the preserved virgin steppe, and once it was the main plant of the Russian steppes. It is accompanied by cereals: fescue, keleria, couch grass, etc. Their abundant roots penetrate the soil with their branches, extracting precious moisture from it.

Large dicotyledonous plants are scattered between the sods of these cereals: purple mullein, kermek, yellow feverfew, etc. Their roots penetrate even deeper than the roots of cereals, and draw moisture from the lowest layers of the soil, and sometimes from groundwater.

Feather-grass steppes are not as colorful as northern forb steppes. But those who have ever seen the feather grass steppe will never forget it.

In early spring, the brown steppe is colored with small yellow stars of goose onion and large ones of adonis. Later, white anemones bloom on a carpet of growing grass.

And then the feather grass begins to sprout ... Its long white awns creep, winnow, iridescently sway over a sparse herbage, consisting mainly of perennial grasses.

And when the feather grass is earing, the whole steppe seems silvery, waves go over it, as if over the sea: the silver-gray awns bend and straighten again.

And in the morning in the steppe you will especially feel the wonderful boundless expanse, the air, fresh and at the same time dry, saturated with the aroma of thyme and sage, the blue vault of the sky is immense, and everywhere the silver haze of feather grass. And in the evening, at sunset, the feathers of the feather grass flash with red fire, and it seems that the steppe caught fire and the earth was enveloped in a light, transparent reddish haze.

If heavy rains pass, the tufts of feather grass, fescue, bulbous bluegrass begin to turn green again, then seedlings of spring ephemera appear. In such a dark green attire, the cereal steppe goes under the snow of a short southern winter.

At the end of summer and autumn in the feather grass steppe, in windy weather, you can see that a light, almost transparent ball is jumping over the brown-yellow grass. Then the two balls interlock and bounce together; a few more balls join them, and now a whole shaft above human height is rolling across the steppe, taking single balls into itself. This is a "tumbleweed" ...

The steppes of North America (North American prairies) are dominated by low cereals - gram and buffalo grass.

In South America, in the Paraná river basin, the steppes are called pampa. The rich but dry soil of the pampas is covered with tough grasses a meter and a half high, which cover the steppe in a dense mass and preserve green color throughout the year.

In terms of the number of plant species, the flora of the pampas is very poor, and its best decoration is luxurious grass, silver hynerium, the stems of which often reach a height of 2 and even 2.5 m.

The fauna of the steppes of Europe and Asia is not rich in species. The most characteristic antelopes are saiga and gazelle, wolf, fox, badger, marmot, jerboa, steppe polecat, steppe pied, and among the birds - bustard, little bustard, steppe tirkushka, gray partridge, steppe eagle, falcon, steppe harrier, etc.

There are also reptiles: steppe viper, muzzle, motley foot-and-mouth disease, yellow-bellied snake, etc.

List of used literature

Alekhin V.V. Vegetation of the USSR in its main zones, 1934.
Berg L.S. Geographical zones Soviet Union. M.: 1952
Walter G., Alekhin V.V. Fundamentals of botanical geography, M. - L., 1936;
Voronov A.G., Drozdov N.N., Myalo E.G. Biogeography of the world. M .: "Higher School", 1985
Dokuchaev VV Our steppes before and now, St. Petersburg. 1892
Kazdym A.A. Saline and saline lakes of the Kumo-Manych trough (Rostov region) // Miass, 2006.
Kazdym A.A. Saline and saline lakes of the Kumo-Manych trough (Rostov region) as natural geological monuments // Orenburg, 2006.
Kazdym A.A. Paleoecological problems of the steppes in the historical period (from the Bronze Age to the present) // Orenburg, 2006. P. 322 - 324
Kazdym A.A. Historical and ecological aspect of the development of the steppes of Northern Eurasia // Orenburg, 2009.

10. Kazdym A.A. Stories of a scientific vagabond. M.: 2010.

11. Kazdym A.A. Historical ecology. M.: 2010.

12. Lavrenko E.M. Steppes and agricultural lands in place of the steppes, in the book: Vegetation cover of the USSR, M. - L., 1956

13. Steppes of Northern Eurasia. Digest of articles. Orenburg, 2009

14. Shchukin I.S. General land morphology. M. - L. - Novosibirsk, ONTI NKTP USSR, 1934

15. Weaver J. E., North American prairie, Lincoln, 1954

16. Weaver J. E., Albertson F. W., Grasslands of the great plains, Lincoln, 1956

17. http://www.zoodrug.ru/topic1829.html

are associated mainly with chernozems and chestnut soils and an arid climate, with a maximum of precipitation in summer months. They occupy the largest areas in the inland parts of the Northern Hemisphere within the temperate zone, where steppe zones stretch from west to east in Europe and Asia and from steppes to the south in North America. steppes also available in South America. They are plowed over a large area (for example, in Europe they are preserved mainly in reserves).

In the USSR virgin steppes are available in the north. parts of the Kazakh uplands and in southern Transbaikalia. Large steppe islands surrounded by mountain taiga are steppes Minusinsk and Tuva basins; small areas, mainly on the southern slopes, steppes go far to steppes-AT. Siberia. Significant areas steppes also occupy in the mountains of Transcaucasia, Western, Central and Central Asia, where they rise to the highlands.

In natural vegetation steppes in Europe and Asia (including the USSR), turf grasses predominate: feather grass, fescue, thin-legged, oats, bluegrass, etc., and turf species of sedges and onions. In North America, in addition to the turf species of feather grass endemic to this continent, in less arid steppes among turf grasses, various species of bearded vulture are common, and in more arid ones, species of the genus Bouteloua. For steppes also characteristic are many species of herbs from various families of dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plants belonging to different biomorphs, some types of semi-shrubs (mainly from the genus wormwood) and steppe shrubs (in Europe and Asia from the genera caragana, spirea, almonds). In more northern steppes a moss cover is often developed (from the species Thuidium, Tortilla), in the more southern ones, with a sparse grass cover, lichens are found (from the genera Parmelia, Cladonia, Cornicularia, etc.). Vegetation cover steppes very variable due to the alternation of dry and more rainy years and the presence of rodents (mainly mouse-like - phytophages and diggers), which in places almost completely destroy the herbage in the years of peak abundance steppes and break through the surface of the soil, as a result of which natural deposits appear on vast expanses, on which steppe vegetation is gradually restored.

The most extensive spaces steppes occupy in Eurasia (from west to east from the lower reaches of the Danube to Inner Manchuria), where 3 main zonal types are distinguished steppes: real (typical), with a predominance of turf grasses and a small amount of forbs; meadow (forest-steppe), from herbs and often with a continuous ground cover of mosses; desert (desert), with a predominance of steppe turf grasses and a large number of xerophilic (mainly wormwood) subshrubs (desert steppes sometimes referred to as semi-desert).

In geobotanical zoning, the steppe region of Eurasia is divided into 2 sub-regions: the Black Sea-Kazakhstan and Central Asian, which include the steppe and forest-steppe territories of Mongolia, southern Transbaikalia and the interior of Manchuria. The first one is dominated by large-turf feathery feather grasses, the second one is dominated by Central Asian species of steppes- Central Asian species of small turf and undersized desert-steppe feather grasses. The first subregion is characterized by relatively warm and relatively humid spring, and partly by autumn. In spring and early summer, short-vegetating annuals (ephemers) and perennials (ephemeroids) play a significant role here (from annuals - species of the genera hornhead, beetroot, breakwort, and other annuals - goose onion, tulip, geranium, ferula, bulbous bluegrass, etc. ). Others are characterized by a dry, cold spring; ephemera and ephemeroids are almost absent, and in more humid years, one- and two-year long-vegetating (until autumn) plants often develop in mass (especially some types of wormwood). Cm.

What picture, what landscape can represent the generalized image of Asia? A continent that stretches from the lifeless icy deserts of the Arctic to hot sands and stuffy tropical forests? Such landscapes do not exist. Asia is too diverse. But there is a miracle of nature on this continent, which is proud not only of the country that owns it, but of all mankind. Of course, this is Baikal.

Let's open the photo album of O. Gusev, who for 4 years went around and traveled around the entire coast of the legendary lake. It is called “Around Baikal”. Each figure from the text given on one of the first pages of the book is amazing. The length of the lake is 636 km; width: maximum - 81 km, minimum - 27 km; length coastline about 2000 km; depth: maximum - 1620 m, average - 731 m; area - 31,500 km 2; the volume of the water mass is 23,000 km 3. Transparency maximum - 40 m.

More than 540 tributaries take in Baikal from the catchment area approaching 590,000 km 2, and only one river flows out of it - the mighty and full-flowing Angara.

The most transparent water, sprawling with a silvery smooth surface in calm weather. Steep and very dangerous waves for boats, noisily running ashore, driven by the famous Baikal winds - sarma, kultuk, barguzin, etc. Majestic cliffs of coastal sleeping and islands, sheerly descending into the lake. Cedar forests along the ridges surrounding Baikal. Larch forests flashing gold after the first frosts and forming - together with the blue of the lake and the blue of the sky - an unforgettable color scheme. The fabulous beauty of Baikal - in general and its individual capes, bays, bays, islands.

The richest life: 1340 species of animals and 556 species of plants, many of which are found only in Baikal.

... The relief of Asia is very diverse, but in general it is characterized by the predominance of highlands over lowlands: the latter account for only 25% of the area, and 61% on high ground from 200 to 2000 meters; almost 14% of Asia is above 2000 meters above sea level. The highest plateau in the world - Tibet (its central parts have an average height of about 4.5 thousand meters above sea level) - is "balanced" in Asia by the largest West Siberian lowland. Here is the largest closed sea on the planet - the Caspian, and the deepest fresh lake - Baikal, and the huge Gobi desert. More than 5 thousand km have a length of the river - the Ob (with the Irtysh), the Yangtze, the Yenisei; in terms of high water, rare rivers of the planet can be compared with the Amur.

The climate of Asia, in general, has a continental character, but its diversity, due to the length of the mainland from arctic to equatorial latitudes, is exceptionally great. The climatic mosaic is aggravated by the presence of high uplands, closed depressions, and the longest mountain ranges. It was in Asia, before they got acquainted with the nature of Antarctica, that climatologists placed the "pole of cold" of the planet. But the Verkhoyansk depression, of course, remains the center of the cold of the Asian continent. At the same time, in the south of Asia in the summer - the kingdom high temperatures: desiccatingly waterless in Central Asia, the Middle East, Inner Mongolia and combined with extremely high, debilitating humidity in the tropics and subtropics of India, Vietnam, Laos, the Philippines.

The most humid in summer are the eastern and southeastern coastal regions, which are under the influence of constant monsoons. At the foot and on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, the amount of precipitation reaches 12 meters per year! At the same time, the central depressions and highlands of Central and Western Asia receive very little precipitation and have an arid climate. In general, about 26% of the surface of Asia belongs to the area of a humid climate with cold winters, almost 10% - to the steppe climate, more than 10% - to the semi-desert and about 13.5% - to the area with cold dry winters. One fourth of the continent has a hot climate, half - cold.

Diversity, diversity of physical and geographical conditions predetermine an equally large variety of vegetation. The far north of Asia is occupied by harsh arctic tundras or icy deserts; further south are the tundra and forest-tundra zones. In the south of Asia - humid subtropical and tropical forests, swampy jungles. A huge strip of taiga passes through Asia, dark coniferous and light, larch. There are also various steppes that flourish in the spring with a variety of bright ephemera, and deserts, stony and sandy, in which vegetation is poorly developed or almost absent.

Peculiar flora of the Central Asian deserts; some species of background plants found in these deserts (saxaul, sand locust, etc.) are endemic to Eurasia and absent from the Sahara. The Ussuri taiga is noteworthy in terms of floristic composition and appearance, in which we find many southern, exotic species of trees and shrubs.

Where ecological conditions are diverse, where there are many different plant formations, high primary productivity biocenoses - there, of course, diverse and animal world.

Zoogeographers attribute the territory of Asia to two areas that are very different from one another - the Holarctic and Indo-Malayan. Within the Holarctic region, the Palearctic and Neoarctic are distinguished, and a significant part of the Euro-Asian continent falls into the former. Although the fauna of the Holarctic is poor, its territory is occupied by faunal complexes that combine with each other in a complex way, have a different origin and are associated with different landscapes. Just as in the European part of the Palearctic, which we discussed above, the following main faunas are distinguished in the Asian part: the tundra and the taiga region. In addition, there are faunas of the Far Eastern broadleaf forest, Mediterranean steppes, Mongolian steppes, Tibetan alpine steppe, fauna of the mountains of Inner Asia. The faunas of the European and Asian tundra are similar. pine marten in the Cis-Ural and Trans-Ural parts of the taiga, it replaces sable. On the Far East we will already meet several species of mammals and birds that are absent in Europe: a raccoon dog (acclimatized in Europe in the 30s), a black (Himalayan) bear, Amur tiger, charza, wild grouse, mandarin duck, etc.

The fauna of the Mediterranean deserts is characterized by several species of gerbils, the common gazelle, whose range extends to the east to the Tigris River, the desert lynx caracal, dune cat, beauty bustard, white-bellied sandgrouse. Typical species animals for the Mongolian steppe - gazelle, tarbagan marmot, several species of jerboa-shaped, Mongolian lark. Kulan, corsac, eared hedgehog, manul, saja, or attempt, are found not only in the steppes, but also in the semi-deserts of Central Asia. In the steppes and semi-deserts of Kazakhstan there is a restored saiga population, numbering about a million individuals (it also enters Uzbekistan). In Kazakhstan and Central Asia, the North American rodent introduced here, the muskrat, has widely settled. In the tugai and along their outskirts, there are some subspecies of the pheasant, the Central Asian deer - hangul.

The fauna of vast Tibet (to which the Eastern Pamir gravitates) is transitional from flat to mountainous. Its typical representatives are orango and hell antelopes, yak, kulan, large Tibetan marmot, and Tibetan saja,.

Characteristic animals of the fauna of the mountains of Inner Asia are yak, Siberian and markhorn goats, kuku-yaman (“half-ram”), rams, argali and argali, tar (“half-goat”), goral, Tibetan, dark-bellied and Altai snowcocks, keklik; in the ridges of Eastern Siberia we meet other typical animals - bighorn sheep, black-capped marmot, long-tailed ground squirrel.

Fauna of the Indo-Malay region hugging India, Sri Lanka. The Indochinese Peninsula and the Malay Archipelago to the east, to the islands of Bali, Sulawesi and the Philippines, inclusive, are much more diverse and richer. Its main features:

There are only two endemic orders of mammals: coleopterans and tarsiers. endemic large family goofy and the gibbon family. Deer, squirrels, flying squirrels, pheasants are very numerous.
Only a very few widely distributed groups on earth are missing.
There is a great resemblance to the fauna of Ethiopia (elephants, rhinos, narrow-nosed monkeys, lizards, deer, half-monkeys, hornbills, etc.).
A sharp difference from the Australian fauna (despite the presence of some common elements).
Tapirs and raccoons (pandas) are common with these species of the Neotropical region.

Of all the variety of species of mammals and birds of the Indo-Malay region, we will briefly dwell on only a few that are (or were) of hunting interest.

The Indian elephant is somewhat inferior in size to the African one, but still belongs to very large animals; its mass sometimes exceeds 5 tons. Poaching and deforestation have greatly reduced the number of Indian elephants. At present, they have been preserved mainly in Burma, on the island of Sri Lanka, in some regions of India, etc.; their number does not exceed 50 thousand heads.

The bearded pig, close to the European boar, is quite common; she is considered the ancestor of the domestic pig.

There are many Asian deer, the smallest of them weighs only about 2.5 kg. Of the small species of forest deer, the muntjac is known, the mass of which is up to 25 kg. Indian sambar has more large sizes, is found in moist lowland and in dry or mountain forests, but its numbers are small. Some species of deer living in rainforests are very rare. Many types of bulls are also rare or few in number - gaur, banteng, kouprey and wild Assam buffalo.

In dry tropical forests, the woodlands and savannahs of Asia are inhabited by several species of antelopes, which are far from being as numerous as in similar landscapes in Africa. In light forests and shrub associations, the nilgai antelope is found, the mass of which reaches 200 kg. A medium-sized and rare blackbuck antelope lives in Indian woodlands and savannahs, and a four-horned antelope is quite common.

Of the hunting birds of the Indo-Malay region, we are interested in the francolins, which inhabit the forests and bushes of Hindustan, several species of bush chickens, including the bank chicken, and various pheasants, which are widely represented in the fauna of this region. Various water birds are also numerous here, some of which arrive for wintering from more northern regions.

Talking about the animal world of Asia, it is impossible not to single out the animal world of China - a huge and unique in nature countries. First of all, it should be noted that China is distinguished by a variety of fauna. This is explained by the fact that on the territory of the country the moderately subtropical complex of animals of the Holarctic zoogeographical region is in contact with the tropical complex of the Indo-Malayan region, and the boundary between them is not well defined.

Approximately 386 species of mammals (9.8% of the world's mammal fauna) and 1090 species of birds (12.6%) live in China.

Mammals belong to 48 families in 11 orders. Noteworthy in its composition is the detachment of predators. First of all, the giant panda, which is often also called the bamboo bear, comes to mind - an endemic to the mountains of western Sichuan. This, of course, is not a hunting species, it must be carefully protected, care must be taken to restore its numbers. But the small panda, a representative of Asian raccoons, is common in many parts of the country.

The canine fauna is rather poor: it is a wolf, a raccoon dog, a corsac fox, a red wolf, species well known to us, as well as an endemic of Tibet, Qinghai and Ganyu - the Tibetan fox.

The mustelids are the richest in the fauna of mammals in China. Among them, we will find martens, common for most of Europe, ermine, weasel, otter, badger, as well as exotic animals - tropical badgers, pygmy otters, etc. In the south of the country, real martens are gradually inferior in number and diversity to the civet family characteristic of the tropics: civet, palm marten, masked civet, mongoose or ichneumons.

The feline fauna is also quite diverse: lynx and Snow Leopard coexist in China with Indian and smoky leopards, tigers, small forest and desert cats.

There are about 150 species of rodents in China, but only a few have hunting and commercial interest: marmots, whose numbers are large in the mountain steppes, real and red squirrels, some ground squirrels, bristle-tailed and real porcupines.

Listing the ungulates of China, Professor L.G. Bannikov, first of all, mentions such wonderful and rare animals as Przewalski's horse and wild camel. However, there is very little certainty that they have survived in nature to the present day.

Deer are represented by a significant number of species, among them are the water deer inhabiting the basin of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the South Chinese deer - the milu and the Indian sambar. There are also spotted, noble and white-faced deer,. Desert-steppe and mountain antelopes are represented by such species as gazelle, goitered gazelle, saiga, ada, goral, goat antelope, bull-like antelope - takin. The mountains are inhabited by mountain sheep and goats, as well as kuku-yaman and wild yak of the Tibetan highlands. Wild bull - gaur - is found in the mountain forests of the southwestern part of the country. The wild boar is fairly common in many areas.

Obviously, the fauna of ungulates in China caring attitude to it can provide conditions for various and peculiar types of hunting, including unique ones.

Birds of China belong to 82 families, which are part of 27 orders. Of greatest interest to hunters are lamellar-billed, chicken and, to a lesser extent, waders. Many birds winter in the eastern regions of the country, whose nesting stations are located in Siberia: goose, bean goose, most true geese, teals, shovelers, most divers, mergansers, waders - tules, lapwing, turukhtan, curlews, etc. The immoderate hunting of waterfowl, which has been practiced in China for a number of years, including with the use of military weapons, has had a negative impact on the state of their resources; several species of geese were particularly affected.

The order Galliformes is interesting because 47 species of pheasant birds are found in China, while there are 165 species in the world fauna. No country is so rich in pheasants: here are real pheasants, royal, golden, silver, eared ... Monals live in the mountains, perhaps the most beautiful of all known birds, motley sermuns, several types of mountain satyrs, or trapogons, partridges, kekliks, turaches, tree and bamboo "partridges", high-mountain snowcocks, peculiar mountain chickens of the Himalayas, Tibet and the Sichuan mountains.

The hunting species in China also include stone capercaillie, black grouse, ptarmigan, two types of true hazel grouse, wild grouse, true pigeons and turtledoves found in the north of the country, hoof or saja, colored bustards, etc.

The fauna of Asia has suffered significant losses over the past century. Among the animals that suffered from immoderate hunting and poaching and sharply reduced their numbers, J. Dorst mentions the following species: Indian and Javanese one-horned rhinoceros, Sumatran two-horned rhinoceros, Indian cheetah, Indian lion, Japanese red-footed ibis, large Indian bustard, etc.

In recent years, thanks to measures taken by various countries, it was possible to stop the decline in the number or increase the population of some wild animals, such as the Indian lion, introduced in a special reserve. Unfortunately, the condition of other species has worsened or continues to be of concern. Of the game animals living in the Asian part of the country, about 70 species and subspecies of birds and mammals are listed in the Red Book.

The main reason for the continued decline in the number of some species of wild animals in overseas Asia(besides poaching) - transformation of their habitats and especially - deforestation. As you know, Asia is quite rich in forests, they occupy 500 million hectares, or 13% of the territory. However, forests are used in most cases irrationally. Logging and agricultural expansion reduce the forest area of South Asia and Oceania by 5 million hectares annually; more than 1 million hectares are annually degraded due to fires, uncontrolled logging, grazing. In 30% of the forests of Southeast Asia, slash-and-burn agriculture has not yet been abandoned, as a result of which 2 million hectares of forest land have been destroyed in the Philippines, and erosion processes are developing on 9 million hectares. In Thailand for 1952-1978. the forest cover of the territory decreased from 58.3 to 33%. A similar picture is observed in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Korea, and China. All this causes serious damage to the animal world of Asia.

What steppe is occupied by Asia. Great steppe. The Great Steppe as a geographical concept

The Great Steppe as a geographical concept

The Great Steppe as a historical, cultural and economic region

see also

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