Our Steppes


Book Description




Steppes


Book Description

Steppes—semi-arid biomes dominated by forbs, grasses, and grass-like species, and characterized by extremes of cold and heat—occupy enormous areas on four continents. Yet these ecosystems are among the least studied on our planet. Given that the birth and evolution of human beings have been so intimately interwoven with steppe regions, it is amazing that so few attempts have been made to compare and quantify the features of these regions. In this ground-breaking volume, five leading voices in horticulture—all staff members of Denver Botanic Gardens—examine the plants, climate, geology, and geography of the world’s steppes: central Asia, central and intermountain North America, Patagonia, and South Africa. Drawing upon their first-hand experience, the writers illuminate the distinctive features of each region, with a particular emphasis on the striking similarities between their floras. Each chapter includes a primer of species of horticultural interest—a rich resource for readers with an interest in steppe plants.







The Plough that Broke the Steppes


Book Description

This is the first environmental history of Russia's steppes. From the early-eighteenth century, settlers moved to the semi-arid but fertile grasslands from wetter, forested regions in central and northern Russia and Ukraine, and from central Europe. By the late-nineteenth century, they had turned the steppes into the bread basket of the Russian Empire and parts of Europe. But there was another side to this story. The steppe region was hit by recurring droughts, winds from the east whipped up dust storms, the fertile black earth suffered severe erosion, crops failed, and in the worst years there was famine. David Moon analyses how naturalists and scientists came to understand the steppe environment, including the origins of the fertile black earth. He also analyses how scientists tried to understand environmental change, including climate change. Farmers, and the scientists who advised them, tried different ways to deal with the recurring droughts: planting trees, irrigation, and cultivating the soil in ways that helped retain scarce moisture. More sustainable, however, were techniques of cultivation to retain scarce moisture in the soil. Among the pioneers were Mennonite settlers. Such approaches aimed to work with the environment, rather than trying to change it by planting trees or supplying more water artificially. The story is similar to the Dust Bowl on the Great Plains of the USA, which share a similar environment and environmental history. David Moon places the environmental story of the steppes in the wider context of the environmental history of European colonialism around the globe.




Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Crimea, the Caucasus, &c


Book Description

"Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea..." is the travel memoire of the French geographer, engineer and traveler Xavier Hommaire de Hell. He sums up his trip thus, "When I left Constantinople for Odessa my principal object was to investigate the geology of the Crimea and of New Russia, and to arrive by positive observations at the solution of the great question of the rupture of the Bosphorus. Having once entered on this pursuit, I was soon led beyond the limits of the plan I had marked out for myself, and found it incumbent on me to examine all the vast regions that extend between the Danube and the Caspian Sea to the foot of the northern slope of the Caucasus. I spent, therefore, nearly five years in Southern Russia, traversing the country in all directions...visiting all the Russian coasts of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azof and the Caspian."










Recollections of Tartar Steppes and Their Inhabitants


Book Description

First Published in 1972. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.




The Empire of the Steppes


Book Description

.While the early history of the steppe nomad is shrouded in obscurity, The Empire of the Steppes brings both the general reader and the specialist the majestic sweep, grandeur and the overriding intellectual grasp of Grousset's original. Hailed as a masterpiece when first published in French in 1939, and in English in 1970, this great work of synthesis brings before us the people of the steppes, dominated by three mighty figures--Atilla, Genghiz Khan, and Tamberlain--as they marched through ten centuries of history, from the borders of China to the frontiers of the West. The book includes nineteen maps, a comprehensive index, notes, and bibliography. The late Rene Grousset was director of the Cernuschi Museum and curator of the Muse Guimet in Paris, a member of the French Academy and author of many works on Asia Minor and the Near East.