What time is it! Adventure time! --- Travel Journal: Steppe

Welcome to my travel blog!

Do you have a plan for this summer? Huh? SAT?!! Stop sitting in front of your desk and preparing for the annoying SAT test! Don't waste your best vacation! Because you know what time is it --- SUMMER TIME! Even better, it's Adventure time!

HAHA
Source from: Google Image 

Aaa! Flash!
Source from: Google Image 

So let's go on an Adventure! To... *Drum roll* STEPPE! Woop! Woop! 

Of course you may ask "Huh... Steppe? Where on earth is that!" No worries! I will introduce steppe, an amazing place on earth to you in this travel blog.

ENJOY READING! :) 

  When travelling to a new place, we always would like to know the location. So let's take a look - where on earth is steppe. Basically,  steppe biomes are located all over the world! So there are more than one options for you to choose to be your place for summer vacation! Steppe biomes are most commonly found in South America, South island of New Zealand, Australia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, neighbouring countries stretching from Ukraine in the west through Russia, Kazakhstan,Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the Altai, Koppet Dag and Tian Shan ranges. But if you don't want to travel abroad, that's totally fine! Because you can also find steppe biomes in central United States and western Canada.
*Steppe couldn not be found in Antarctica. 

Photo by: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/grassland-

The Eurasian Steppe Belt  Photo by Wikipedia 

  A steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Thus, unfortunately, it is hard to find shelter in steppe biomes as there is hardly any trees in steppes, and there is only grass and shrubs.

  Although it is categorized as grassland, it may be semi-desert. Mentioning of semi-desert, the term is also used to denote the climate encountered in regions too dry to support a forest, but not dry enough to be a desert. The soil of steppe biomes is typically ofchernozem type. 

  There are two types of steppe can be recorded. One is characterized as Temperate steppe: the "true" steppe, found in continental areas of the world; they can be further subdivided, as in the Rocky Mountains Steppes (The other type is Subtropical steppe: a similar association of plants that can be found in the driest areas with a Mediterranean-like climate; it has usually a short wet period.)
Peculiar types of steppe include; shrub-steppe and alpine-steppe.

  Steppes are usually characterized by a semi-arid and continental climate. Extremes can be recorded in the summer of up to 40 °C (104 °F) and in winter, –40 °C (–40 °F). Besides this huge difference between summer and winter, the differences between day and night are also very great. For example, in the highlands of Mongolia, 30 °C (86 °F) can be reached during the day with sub-zero °C (sub 32 °F) readings at night. Steppes contain hot summers and cold winters. There is a low amount of humidity as steppes are located away from the ocean; yet, close to mountain barriers. [Steppes is halfway between forests and deserts.] The average temperature in summer is  104°F. The average temperature in winter is -40°F, and the average annual precipitation is 250–500 mm (10-20 inches) 

   Last but not least, with such small amount of rainfull and such high  average temperature, there is always sunshine in steppe. (Better pack suncream, sunglasses and hats! Unless you would like to bear the cold and go during winter season.) Even though sunshine here in California is pleasant and enjoyable, sunlight is overpowering. Too much of sunlight would cause droughts that grass would catch on fire and start wildfires; furthermore, the entire environment of steppe is dry that once wildfires spread, it is hard to stop as the speed of spreading is out of reach. 

* Click here for more detailed information about the climate of steppe biome. 

For this graph, grassland = steppe  Source from: http://uschs-apes.wikispaces.com/Grassland

Wildfire
phtot by Wikipedia

Steppe in Ukraine
photo by Так цветет украинская степь 

The Great Steppe
photo by Wikipedia

Besides the landscape and climate, what about the life there?  

Plants:
  The main plants are a variety of grasses/ bushes. The grasses bery in size from 4 1/2 ft. to 1 1/2 ft. Steppe vegetation is well suited to this drier climate, and the grass is generally shorter than that which is found on prairie grasslands. 

  Common plants that are found in steppes include Fringed Sagebrush, Milk Vetch, Sweet Vernal, Rhubarb and tumbleweed. All of these plants are relatively small and short, growing no higher than about 1 meter. The leaves of these plants are usually as sharp as needles that the reduced surface areas would help the plants to preserve water; moreover, the roots of these plants are longer and deeper than other types of grasses as growing in such a dry environment, longer and deeper roots and sharper leaves would help the plants to survive better.

Fringed Sagebrush
Source from: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe.htm

Sweet Vernal
Source from: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe.htm

Milk Vetch
Source from: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe.htm

Rhubarb
Source from: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe.htm

Tumbleweed
Source from: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe.htm

*Here is a website that discusses about these plants in details. Enjoy! :)

Animals:

Most of the organisms in the Steppe are grazing animals, like rabbits, mice, antelopes, and horses. Animal life on the steppe is comprised of grazing mammals such as the antelope, and a wide variety of burrowing mammals such as ground squirrels and ferrets. There are endangered species on the Steppe, and more and more people are trying to protect them. Nevertheless, the Steppe is losing land to oil drilling, and plowing for farming. Furthermore, as a result of having lots of grazing animals. Steppe biomes are highly threatened by overgrazing.

Northern Lynx
Source from: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe_animal_page.htm

Saker Falcon
Source from: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe_animal_page.htm

Corsac Fox
Source from: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe_animal_page.htm

Horse
Photo by Wikipedia

Rabbit
Photo by Wikipedia

Mongolian Gerbil
Source from:http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe_animal_page.htm

Saiga Antelope
Source from: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe_animal_page.htm

*Check this out!

Human impact on steppe biome:
Humans have had ranging impacts on grassland biomes. Those areas that are most affected by humans are normally used for agricultural purposes. For example, much of the grassland in North America has been used for farms and commercial agriculture. Humans clear the existing vegetation for their desired crop in some places, and in others, they leave the existing grass alone so that livestock can use it for food.

[Source from: http://uschs-apes.wikispaces.com/Grassland]

*Click here and here for more detailed information about plants and animals. 

Food Web:

Here are graphs that clearly show the relations between producers, consumers and decomposers.

Click here for detailed information. :) 

Source from: http://www.gsseser.com/trial/colorbook/web.htm

Source from: http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Landscapes/Biogeog/Biogeog.html

  As mentioned before, because of the harsh climate of steppe biome, microorganisms, plants, and animals have gone through some forms of evolutionary adaption to survive in the environment with such small amounts of rainfall. It can be inferred that This adaption is most prominent in plants that

their roots are deeper and longer than other plants in other biomes in order to take in far-reaching water and nutrients; furthermore, their leaves are smaller and sharper (like long needles -- to reserve water). These plants in steppe biomes are similar to the plants in desert. 

  There is only one type of symbiotic relationship in the steppe of biome --- parasitism. In this relationship, one organism benefits while the other is harmed. It basically menas the harmed ones will be eaten for food. 

CITATION:
"Ecoregions of the United States".  Web. April 2014. Retrieved from 

http://www.fs.fed.us/land/pubs/ecoregions/ecoregions.html

“Grasslands.” October 2000. 24 October 2011. http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/grasslands.htm

“Grasslands”. National Geographic. N.p. n.d. 24 October 2011. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/grassland-profile/.

"Steppe Biome". Billy Price, 2005. Web. April 2014. Retrieved from

http://rrms-biomes.tripod.com/id8.html

“The Grassland Biome.” California Academy of Science. N.p. n.d. 25 October 2011. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/grasslands.php

“The Grassland Biome(s).” Marietta College. N.p n.d. 30 October 2011. http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/grass.htm.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Here are some more detailed information about the steppe biomes, such as the crisis of the steppe biomes' ecosystems, Global Warming affecting the steppe biomes, sagebrush steppe and so on. :) 

Hope these websites could help you get to know the steppe biomes more, and maybe someday you will go on an adventure to the steppe biomes. :) 

1. Sagebrush Steppe and Shrublands http://www.dfw.state.or.us/conservationstrategy/docs/document_pdf/b-habitat_11.pdf

2. Montane Sagebrush Steppe

http://fieldguide.mt.gov/displayES_Detail.aspx?ES=5455

3. Global Warming and Sagebrush Steppe Habitat
http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Threats-to-Wildlife/Global-Warming/Effects-on-Wildlife-and-Habitat/Sagebrush-Steppe.aspx

4. Proceedings: Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems Symposium

http://ris.wr.usgs.gov/general/sssymp.pdf

5. Sagebrush Steppe

http://www.nps.gov/crmo/naturescience/sagebrush-steppe.htm

6. The Tibetan Steppe 

http://www.case.edu/affil/tibet/documents/TheTibetanSteppe_001.pdf

7. Sagebrush Steppe
http://www.inl.gov/visitorinformation/sagebrush_steppe.shtml

Check out this cool book about steppe biome!

And!! This a great website about the overall information of steppe biome. Hope it will help you more :)
Thank you for reading this and hope you will have a wonderful summer full of adventures!