The Steppic Biogeographic Region is a

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

region of Europe, as defined by the

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides ...

Extent

The Steppic region encompasses parts of Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, and western Kazakhstan. Additionally, it extends further west into Asia. This vast region is characterized by low-lying plains, as well as rolling hills or plateaus. On average, the elevation in this area ranges from

Environment

The natural vegetation is mostly grasses such as ''

Elymus repens ''Elymus repens'', commonly known as couch grass, is a very common perennial species of grass native to most of Europe, Asia, the Arctic, and northwest Africa. It has been brought into other mild northern climates for forage or erosion control, b ...

'' (couch grass), ''

Stipa ''Stipa'' is a genus of 141 species of large Perennial plant, perennial hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, w ...

'' (feather grass) and ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on ...

'' (fescue), among which are scattered herbaceous plants such as ''

Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 500 species of Annual plant, annual, Biennial plant, biennial and Perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the rose family (biology), family, Rosaceae. Potentillas m ...

'' (cinquefoil), ''

Verbascum ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' (mullein and '' Artemisia'' (wormwood). The humus-rich soils are very fertile, and much of the region has been converted to cultivated land, with few remaining pockets of the original vegetation.

Conservation

Romania has the only part of the Steppic Region in the European Union. This is a small intensively farmed area. The list of

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

sites in region was adopted in December 2008, with 34

Sites of Community Importance A Site of Community Importance (SCI) is defined in the European Commission Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) as a site which, in the Biogeographic regions of Europe, biogeographical region or regions to which it belongs, contributes significantly to t ...

under the

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The ...

and 40

Special Protection Area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

s under the

Birds Directive The Birds Directive (formally known as Council Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds) is the oldest piece of EU legislation on the environment and one of its cornerstones which was unanimously adopted in April 1979 as the Dir ...

. Some sites are in both categories. Together they cover about 20% of the land in the Romanian part of the region.

Notes

Sources

* * {{authority control Environment of Europe Biogeography