East European forest steppe

East European forest steppe
The Central Black Earth Nature Reserve, an example of forest steppe terrain, in Kursk Oblast, Russia
Ecoregion territory (in purple)
Ecoregion territory (in purple)
Ecology
RealmPalearctic
Biometemperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Borders
Geography
Area727,269 km2 (280,800 sq mi)
Countries
Conservation
Conservation statusCritical/endangered
Protected35,989 km² (5%)[1]

The East European forest steppe ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0419) is a patchwork of broadleaf forest stands and grasslands (steppe) that stretches 2,100 km across Eastern Europe from the Ural Mountains in Ural, through Povolzhye, Central Russia to the middle of Ukraine. There are isolated areas of similar character off the western end in eastern Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria.[2]

The region forms a transition zone between the temperate forests to the north, and the steppe to the south. The forest-steppe is an area of Russia in which precipitation and evaporation are approximately equal.[2] The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, with a Humid Continental climate. According to one definition of its boundaries, it covers 727,269 km2 (280,800 sq mi).[3]

  1. ^ Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. doi:10.1093/biosci/bix014
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference rusnature was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "East European forest steppe". Ecoregions of the World. GlobalSpecies.org. Retrieved July 23, 2018.