Of the large ungulates found in the steppe. Animals of the steppe

Steppes are found in almost all parts of the world in the Soviet Union; they stretch in a wide strip from west to east - from the Carpathians to Altai. The climate of the steppes is characterized by hot, dry summer And cold winter. In summer the temperature here rises to +40°, and in winter it drops to -40°. There is very little precipitation. In summer, many lakes and small rivers dry up and the grass burns out. Trees and bushes, where animals can hide from enemies and bad weather, are found only in river valleys. For wall animals great value also has strong heating of the soil during the day and cooling at night.

Nevertheless, steppe animals have adapted quite well to these conditions: over 50 species of mammals and about 250 species of birds live in the steppes.

Most steppe animals live in burrows. They hide there from enemies, escape from the heat and frost. With the exception of hares, all steppe rodents, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs and even some birds (hoopoes, shore swallows and wheatears) dig burrows. But most birds - quails, gray partridges, steppe harriers, nightingales, little bustards, great bustards - nest directly on the ground.

Some inhabitants of the steppe inhabit other people's burrows. Wolves, for example, take over the homes of badgers and foxes. The burrows of large rodents are inhabited by small four-legged predators - stoats, weasels and ferrets, and among birds - shelducks and red ducks. In the burrows of smaller rodents live stonechat - wheatears and dancers - toads, lizards, snakes, vipers.

Steppe animals arrange their underground shelters in different ways: moles make passages with their front paws armed with strong claws; mole rats and mole rats dig the ground with incisors protruding from their mouths; lizards drill the soil with their feet and heads; spade frogs - with spade-shaped outgrowths on the soles of the hind legs.

Life in burrows left its mark on the mood of the body. Animals that constantly live underground - the zokor, the mole and the mole rat - have a ridged body with velvety fur, they have short legs, underdeveloped eyes and short tails. For many small predators-bandage, ferret, ermine, weasel - the body is thin and very elongated. This allows them to catch rodents in the burrows where they live.

Animals hide in burrows both during hot daytime hours and in cold, damp weather. In summer they come to the surface only in the morning, evening and night hours. Among birds, the greatest activity reigns in the morning, before the onset of heat. Amphibians are almost invisible in the steppe during the day. The green toad, for example, leads a crepuscular and even nocturnal lifestyle.

Reptiles tolerate heat easily, but they are sensitive to cold. The yellow-bellied snake, for example, appears on the surface when the ground has already warmed up. However, some reptiles do not like extreme heat: steppe viper crawls out to hunt only at night or in the evening.

With the onset of cold weather, steppe reptiles, insects, ground squirrels, marmots, jerboas, hedgehogs, bats and badgers hibernate. Some animals (speckled and small gophers, steppe tortoise) fall asleep on long time and in summer. In dry years, when the vegetation in the steppe burns out very early, they fall asleep in mid-summer.

However, not all inhabitants of the steppes go into hibernation. Many of them feed on summer reserves in winter, others move to warm places. Most of the birds of the northern steppe fly to the southern regions, and herds of saigas and other antelopes also move there. Amphibians hide in holes dug by rodents.

Voles, hamsters and mole rats store food reserves collected in the summer in burrows, the barrow mouse - under earthen mounds, “mounds”. Pikas store hay; they put it in stacks at the entrance to the burrow.

There is little water in the steppes, but steppe animals have adapted to this. Birds and ungulates can quickly cover the vast spaces separating them from watering places. Most small insectivorous birds - meadow and stonechat, bluethroats, wheatears, warblers - move to irrigated lands during drought. Animals that cannot fly or run fast have developed the ability to do without water. Gerbils, ground squirrels, and jerboas do not drink at all. Camels can go without drinking for several days. Antelopes, giraffes, and rodents do not drink for a long time. They are content with the moisture contained in the grass. Steppe predators obtain water along with food by eating warm-blooded animals and bird eggs.

Fast running helps steppe animals escape from enemies. Ungulates run very fast. Of these, only the saiga antelope has survived in the steppes of Central Azin and Kazakhstan. The steppe hares, the brown hare and the tolai, also run fast. Their hind legs are longer than those of the forest hare. Jerboas also have very long hind legs. These animals escape from enemies with extraordinary speed, making huge jumps. Of the birds, the bustard runs beautifully.

After birth, baby ungulates immediately stand on their feet and follow their mother. Many brood birds have the same property. Having hatched from the egg and dried out, the chicks begin to run along with the adults.

Steppe animals are very careful. Marmots and gophers, before moving away from their burrows, inspect the steppe for a long time, becoming a “column”. The gopher, having noticed the danger, emits a sharp whistle, and all the other gophers quickly hide in their holes. Ungulates always graze under the supervision of a leader. The leader of the saigas, standing on guard, does not eat or lie down until he is replaced by another animal. Birds are also very careful. It is difficult for small birds to notice the danger due to the tall grass. From time to time they fly over it. In addition, steppe birds often have a so-called protective coloration, which makes them invisible to enemies. For example, chicks of waders, bustards and little bustards are almost indistinguishable from the grass in which they hide.

There are very few animals that live only in the steppe and are not found in other landscape zones. Among the mammals there are three species of ground squirrels (speckled, reddish and red-cheeked), bobak marmot, steppe mouse, mole rat, steppe pika, corsac fox and saiga antelope. Exclusively steppe birds: steppe eagle, harrier, buzzard, little bustard, bustard, demoiselle crane, shelduck, red duck, several species of larks. Apart from the steppe, eastern sand lizard, yellow-bellied snake, four-striped snake and steppe viper.

There are no amphibians living only in the steppe. The most common frogs in the steppes are the spade frog, the green toad, the lake frog and the sharp-faced frog. But all these amphibians are also found in deciduous forests.

Among the insects most characteristic of the steppes are the thistle butterfly and the locusts known as locusts - the wingless saga and the praying mantis. Among the arachnids, the scorpion, phalanx and tarantula live in the steppes.

IN pre-revolutionary Russia The fauna of the steppes became greatly impoverished due to predatory extermination. The primitive bull, the aurochs, and the wild horse, the tarpan, have completely disappeared.

But at the same time, on the plowed virgin steppes, the number of rodents and insects increased. They turned into real “freeloaders”, man’s worst enemies. Of the rodents, gophers, voles, and mice are especially harmful; among insects - the Kuzka bread beetle, the bread mosquito, or Hessian fly, the harmful turtle, the beet weevil, the Asian and Italian locusts. The number of saiga, bobak, red duck, demoiselle crane, curlew and little bustard has decreased significantly.

In our country thanks to high level agricultural culture and the use of chemical control methods, harmful rodents and insects no longer pose such a danger to agriculture as they did before the October Revolution.

In the fight against rodents and harmful insects, humans have friends and helpers in the steppe zone: buzzards, harriers, steppe eagles, some four-legged predators - ferrets, bandages, foxes, stoats, weasels, as well as amphibians and reptiles. Amphibians are especially useful in that they destroy insects, which, due to their protective coloration, birds do not touch. Snakes - snakes and vipers - exterminate rodents.

Carnivorous mammals (ferret, fox, stoat) are of great importance for national economy and like fur-bearing animals. The quality of their fur is significantly inferior to the inhabitants of the north, but a lot of fur is mined in the steppe zone.

To protect valuable animals and plants in the steppes, state reserves. One of the most interesting Askania-Nova in Ukraine. This steppe reserve occupies a huge area of 38,500 hectares. Herds of bison, zebras, fallow deer, gazelles, saigas and other antelopes, deer (deer and spotted deer), and mouflon graze freely here. Numerous ponds and oak groves contain large number birds: swans, pheasants, African ostriches, South American rheas and Australian emus. In the reserve, much attention is paid to the breeding of new breeds of wild and domestic animals (see article "").

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The central parts of the continents in the same geographical latitudes, as the zone deciduous forests, are occupied by the expanses of the steppes. This natural area is formed under conditions continental climate, where the winds carrying moisture from the ocean had already lost it along the way. Therefore, the steppes have dry air and dry soil. The sky is usually clear, cloudless, and there are many sunny days.

The annual amount of precipitation in the steppes is insufficient for the development of forest vegetation: after all, a tree, which has a huge total leaf surface, loses a very large amount of moisture. Therefore, the steppes are a kingdom of grasses and drought-resistant shrubs and shrubs. Under these conditions, the development of life is limited not so much by temperature or the length of the growing season as by water deficiency.

Both the Eurasian steppes and the North American prairies in the north directly border taiga rather than deciduous forest. The boundaries of this zone are nowhere clearly defined; everywhere there is a transitional strip, for example, forest-steppe. Sometimes this transitional strip looks like a steppe, with small groups of trees scattered throughout. Either these are the oak forests of Europe, or the birch groves of the Trans-Urals and Kazakhstan, or the islands of coniferous species, including junipers. In other cases, the forest penetrates into the steppe along river valleys, where there is more moisture.

The amount of annual precipitation responsible for the formation of the steppe formation may vary depending on regional conditions. In the most general form, we can consider that the steppe appears in areas where the annual precipitation amount is no more than 500 millimeters and no less than 200.

In spring in the steppe, the soil is saturated with heavy rainfall, as well as melt water. Everything begins to grow, turn green and bloom. This period of intensive growth and development ends with the onset of summer. The sun mercilessly dries out and burns all greenery. The steppe becomes gray, the vegetation burns out. Animals and birds are forced to make long journeys to watering places. Only in the fall, when the rains begin again, does the steppe come to life.

In some respects, the ecological conditions of the steppe resemble those of the tundra. Both in the tundra and in the steppe there are no shelters of any kind, there are not enough shelters. The vegetation is single-tiered, and animals have nowhere to hide from wind, frost, heat and from enemies. Therefore, in the steppe there is a large number of animals that dig holes for themselves and hide in them if necessary. All other species living on the surface must have different protective devices. But the steppe is quite different from the tundra. The soil layer here is well developed and convenient for digging holes. Instead of mosses, lichens and rare shrubs, the steppes have rich herbs and grasses that produce a lot of seeds.

Animal world the steppe is rich, which contributes quite warm climate. In the steppes there are numerous insects that find enough food here and tolerate drought well thanks to their impenetrable shells and specific physiological processes. The most numerous groups of insects are locusts and ants. Locusts are able to tolerate high environmental temperatures and consume dry food. Therefore, it is not surprising that locusts reproduce in huge numbers in the steppes. Ants are omnivorous insects and can eat almost anything. organic matter. Drought does not hinder them, because they gnaw out the passages of their anthills very deeply, sometimes several meters underground to a layer of moist soil. Herbivorous insects in turn feed on predatory insects and other predatory arthropods, such as various types spiders, salpugas, scorpions. Scorpions and salpugs are more sensitive to drying out and are nocturnal, spending the day in shelter underground, often in self-dug burrows. In steppe areas, earthworms are few in number.

The seasonal rhythm of life in the steppes can be observed in the example of periodic phenomena in amphibians, reminiscent in the rhythms of processes of small planktonic crustaceans - cladocerans (Cladocera), such as daphnia, as well as phyllopods (Euphyllopoda). When puddles and temporary reservoirs form in the steppe in the spring, frogs, toads and fire-bellied firebirds awaken from winter torpor and accumulate near the reservoirs to mate and lay eggs. At the same time, numerous cladocera and copepods hatch from the eggs that overwintered at the bottom. Reservoirs quickly warm up, tadpoles and young crustaceans find abundant food there and develop unusually quickly. Such a rush is not in vain, since temporary reservoirs dry up quickly. Crustaceans manage to mature and lay eggs, and some species of amphibians burrow at the bottom and fall into torpor. Summer is coming. Amphibians and crustacean eggs are waiting for spring to come again.

There are fewer birds in the steppe than in forests, and how else would all the large number of species that lived and fed in three tiers of the forest be housed in one layer of grass? Birds nest on the grass or directly on the ground, and even underground - in rodent burrows or in self-dug holes. Some small species of owls, such as the cave owl (Speotyto cunicularia) from the North American prairies, and even swallows, like Attycora cyanoleuca from the South American pampas, nest in burrows dug by rodents. Typically, steppe birds are excellent runners on the ground, which helps them collect seeds and insects. Such are the bustards, different types quails and partridges. Of the songbirds, larks are especially numerous here. In the steppes there are quite a lot of birds of prey. They also nest on the ground among grasses, although eagles prefer small elevations. The earth is strongly heated by the sun, and powerful updrafts are formed in the air, on which large predators can soar freely while patrolling their hunting grounds.

The fauna of the steppes is dominated by two main groups of mammals - rodents and ungulates. Both are herbivores. They use the rich food resources of the zone, and each compensate for the lack of shelter in its own way. Rodents dig underground burrows, and large ungulates flee.

It is difficult to imagine the landscape of the steppe without an eagle or a harrier soaring over its expanse, without shrews, rodents and fleet-footed ungulates.

The species diversity and abundance of rodents can be astonishing. I just can’t believe how many there are in the world. In any steppe, we will first of all find a lot of mouse-like animals - mice and voles. All rodents feed on succulent grasses and grains, and all dig deep burrows consisting of a complex system of passages and chambers. Those of them that do not hibernate collect supplies for the winter. Ground squirrels are especially numerous among hibernators. The saying “sleeps like a gopher” is based on real observations. After all, these animals can sleep for eight to nine months a year. Equally typical of the steppes is the marmot boibak, a close relative of the gophers. (Marmota bobac) from Kazakhstan, the Volga region and the Black Sea steppes, where it has already become scarce. Many steppe rodents live in colonies. For example, steppe pieds, bobak ground squirrels and American prairie dogs (Cynomys). In places where rodents are numerous, the ground is riddled with a labyrinth of passages and is replete with burrow exits.

It is remarkable that some species of rodents have developed a danger signaling system. You can usually see one or more gophers or marmots standing in a column, inspecting the surroundings, and when danger appears, they notify other animals with a loud whistle. At this signal, everyone quickly hides in holes.

Digging rodents greatly change environment, influencing both the composition and abundance of vegetation and the characteristics of the chemical composition (salinization) and mechanical properties soil.

Steppe rodents are an important food item for predators, and rodent burrows serve as a refuge for many species of animals that are not able to dig them themselves. Ferrets, weasels, and several species of birds (primarily wheatears) often live in rodent burrows.

Just as typical of the steppes as ground squirrels are several species of hamsters and hamsters, which create large reserves of grain in their burrows.

Jerboas are distinguished by their original appearance, some species of which are found in the steppes, although this group reaches its greatest prosperity in the desert zone.

A small animal lives in the Asian steppes - the steppe pika, or haymaker, which belongs to the order Lagomorpha (Lagomorpha). They form colonies, store food for the winter, arranging small stacks of hay from gnawed grass near their burrows. The same order also includes the hares themselves, who do not make holes, do not store food, and simply give birth to their young in some hole, under a bush of grass. Therefore, rabbits are sighted from birth, have good fur, and very quickly become independent.

Herbivores, as mentioned, include ungulates; first of all it should be said about the saiga (Saiga tatarica) - an endemic species of antelope of the Eurasian steppes.

In the relatively recent past, the steppe tarpan, a small wild horse, from which the breed of modern domestic horses, including Arabian horses, originated, lived in the steppes of Ukraine.

Nowadays, in the Central Asian steppes there are still several dozen of another species of wild horse - the Przewalski's horse with a large head and a brush-like mane.

In the past, in the steppes there was a kulan belonging to the group of half-donkeys. Nowadays this view (Equus hemionus) and other half-donkeys - a smaller onager (Equus onager) and another small, but heavier build kiang (Equus kiang)- found outside the temperate steppes.

In the forest-steppe, forest ungulates are found - roe deer, deer and wild boars.

All steppe ungulates have strong legs, which are necessary for fleeing and for long journeys to watering places, and strong teeth and jaws adapted for eating coarse dry herbs.

The four-legged predators of the steppes form two distinct groups. These are, firstly, species that are widespread in different natural zones, biologically plastic species that feel just as good in the steppes as in the taiga or forest-tundra. These include the wolf, fox, weasel; The badger also doesn’t care where to dig a hole and whether it will be shaded by spruce trees, oak trees or only grass.

The second group of typical steppe predators includes few species. Of the canids, these are small steppe foxes and corsacs. (Vulpes corsac) from felines - steppe cats (Felis libyca) from mustelids - steppe polecat (Mustellas eversmanni).

The absence of large predatory animals in the steppes is explained by the fact that although there are ungulates here, they are distributed extremely unevenly, and their number per unit area is small.

In the steppes, as in the tundra, there are increases in the numbers of some animal species, leading to the destruction of vegetation and serious changes in biocenoses. An example is the locust, which periodically multiplies to astronomical proportions and begins to migrate. When its hordes crawl along the ground, it looks as if a huge carpet is moving. Clouds of flying locusts obscure the sun. She leaves behind only bare earth. Then the locust dies, leaving no offspring, and the steppe takes a long time to restore the disturbed balance.

We should also dwell on the human influence on the steppe fauna. Vast steppe spaces have long been cultivated by humans. Many types of grasses disappeared, their place was taken by grain crops. Large ungulate mammals disappeared, and the number of predators decreased. But this is one side of the coin.

A field of rye or wheat in many ways resembles a steppe and also produces a lot of grain. Rodents feel at least as good here as in their natural habitat. The same can be said about some birds, just remember the skylark and sparrows. What did people do in Central Europe? He uprooted the forest and sowed grain on the resulting land. In other words, in the zone of deciduous forests he created spaces of artificial steppe. All of Poland and most of Central and Western Europe is now forest-steppe. In the past, this was the reason for the spread of saigas, tarpans and small steppe animals. The latter settled to the northwest and currently thrive in the countries of Central and Western Europe. Mice, voles, hamsters, brown hares and many other animals have expanded their distribution area thanks to human activity, who created conditions for their existence where they did not exist before.

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Many steppe animals are forced to live in burrows; ungulates develop the ability to move quickly and develop a tendency to herd.

Mammals of the steppe

Jeyran

Among the steppe animals of Eurasia, there are about 90 species of various mammals, a third of them cannot exist in another habitat. One of the main characteristics of ungulates is gregariousness. Animals of the steppe gather in herds, making it easier for themselves to protect themselves from predators. The main means of protecting ungulates is high speed. In the steppes, where there is no cover, they must run faster than their enemies to survive. The saiga can reach speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour, the kulan - up to 70, and up to 65. Steppe inhabitants cannot do without good endurance - they have to make long treks and remain without food for a long time.

Small animals of the steppe

Jerboa

Small animals of the steppe find refuge in their burrows. Here they hide from the winter cold and summer heat, store food supplies and raise their offspring. Always preserved in burrows normal temperature and humidity, rodents can spend most of their time in their shelters, rarely coming out into the light. Numerous passages are clogged with earthen plugs, the exit from the hole is covered with sparse grass. The variety of rodents is especially characteristic of the steppe fauna. Marmots, jerboas, gophers, mice and other animals of this most numerous group in the steppe live here.

Birds living in the steppes

Demoiselle crane

Very few birds living only in the steppes have survived. The introduction of humans into this habitat, plowed fields and deadly harvesters all contributed to the extinction of many species of steppe birds. The bustard, little bustard, and gray partridge are the most common birds of the Russian steppes. Unfortunately, not all animals of the Russian steppe were able to adapt to the new conditions. However, many daytime steppe predators still inhabit our lands: the imperial eagle, the buzzard, the steppe eagle, the buzzard, kestrels and falcons - pose a serious danger to small rodents. You can often see peaceful birds: larks, wagtails, lapwings, ducks, red ducks and many forest-steppe inhabitants.

Reptiles of the steppe

Yellow-bellied Snake

One cannot live in the steppes without reptiles. The steppe viper prefers to hunt at night, and during the day it peacefully basks in the sun. When meeting a person, the viper tries to hide, however, if you step on it, it will instantly bite with its poisonous teeth. The yellow-bellied snake, on the contrary, is very aggressive and likes to attack first, but its bite is completely harmless to humans. Steppe animals such as lizards can have a wide variety of colors. This reptile is distributed throughout Eurasia, outnumbering snakes.

Insects of the steppe

Ktyr

The steppe is inhabited by an incredible number of insects. In the humid summer, annoying mosquitoes, horse flies and some types of gadflies fly here. The dry steppe is home to ktyrs - insects that can defeat bees, wasps and jumping beetles. This habitat is full of grasshoppers and ants.

Animals of the steppe have adapted to the dry climate. Eastern Eurasia is famous cold winter and hot summer. Average annual temperature in central Eurasia - from 3 to 7 degrees Celsius, in the south - up to 10. Average temperature July - from 20 to 24 degrees, air humidity - about 56-67%, in the driest month this figure drops to 35-49%. About 300-500 millimeters of precipitation falls here per year, 160-180 during the summer. In spring and late summer there is drought in the steppes. In July, drought often alternates with large thunderstorms. Despite its outward modesty, the world of the steppes is extremely diverse, and people must take care of it, preventing the extinction of many species. Human intervention in the animal world has a detrimental effect on the flora and fauna of this habitat. Many living creatures exist only in the steppes, not found in other places globe.

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Lesson on the topic “Animals of the steppes.”

Biology teacher, Municipal Educational Institution Secondary School

village Novo-Alekseevka Beschetnova N.V.

Lesson plan for biological local history in 7th grade on the topic: “Animals of the steppe.” Lesson using ICT.

Purpose of the lesson: explore the diversity of steppe fauna Saratov region.

Tasks:

Educational - to introduce the species diversity of the steppe fauna of the region, the way of life of animals and their role in nature.

Developmental - continue to develop skills in working with a book, with additional sources, develop the ability to prepare messages and presentations, generalize and draw conclusions.

Educating - instilling careful attitude to living nature, love for the native land.

Lesson type: combined, with computer support.

Equipment: illustrations depicting animals of the steppe, presentation “Animals of the steppe”, zoogeographic map (as a handout, 1 per desk, computer.

Lesson structure.

1.Organizational stage. Greetings.

2.Communication of the purpose and topic of the lesson.

3. Repetition and generalization of previously acquired knowledge.

4.Updating knowledge

5.Introduction of new knowledge.

6. Generalization, primary consolidation of knowledge

7.Analysis and evaluation of work results.

Progress of the lesson.

Greeting students.
Today we will continue to talk about the diversity of the animal world of the Saratov region. In this lesson you will get acquainted with representatives of the steppe fauna of the Saratov region, about those species that are listed in the Red Book, and learn about the role of steppe animals in nature and in human life. (slide 1)
Before you start studying new topic, let's remember the material from the last lesson.

Blackboard task: complete exercise 65 from the printable workbook

(create the correct food chain).

2nd student - reads out the written completion of task 68.

Student 3 - answers the questions of task 70 from a workbook with a printed base. The rest of the students answer the questions for the paragraph:

Role carnivorous mammals in the forest community.
Why is there such a variety of animals in the forest?
What could cause forest inhabitants to suffer?
Listening to student reports. Questions from students to the speakers.
Write down the topic of the lesson in your notebook (slide 1).

The ecological conditions of life in the steppe are very diverse. Steppes are open spaces with flat topography and a dense herbaceous cover of steppe grasses. The climate in this zone is relatively warm, with long and hot summers. There is little precipitation, mainly in the spring. The snow cover, thanks to thaws and constant winds, is heavily compacted. These conditions leave their mark on the formation species composition fauna.

Due to the plowing of virgin steppes and extermination, the habitats and numbers of many steppe inhabitants are declining. Steppe communities are associated primarily with chernozems and chestnut soils.

— Remember from the section “Vegetation of the Saratov Region”, which plants predominate in the steppe zone?

— What adaptations to living conditions are characteristic of steppe plants?

Despite arid climate, the steppe is home to many different living creatures, all of them, as well as plants, have adapted to the steppe conditions of existence, which are drier than in the forest. Many steppe inhabitants are active at night.

- What do you think this is connected with?

— Where and how do they spend the daytime?

Write down in your notebook reference diagram No. 1 “Mammals.”

As you can see, the bulk of steppe mammals are represented mainly by rodents, ungulates, and predatory animals.

Explain why?

Of the ungulates, wild boars and roe deer can occasionally be found in open spaces (slide 3). Here they graze mainly in the summer, and in winter they are forced to move to forest plantations, because in the steppe the snow cover completely hides the remains of vegetation. Ungulates are tasty prey for large predators - wolves(slide 4).

Smaller predators: common fox and corsac - are content with food of more modest sizes. The basis and nutrition are rodents (slide 5).

There are also other predators: steppe polecat, badger, mink (along river banks), (slides 6-8). Their diet includes rodents and representatives of the order Lagomorphs - brown hare(slide 9) and steppe pika (slide 10). The pika is a haymaker and lives only in steppe areas overgrown with bushes. It is listed in the Red Book of the region.

It is impossible to imagine a steppe landscape without gophers and marmots standing in a column (slide 11). Marmots reach a weight of 5-6 kg, but despite their well-fed body, when in danger they instantly disappear into the nearest hole, emitting a piercing whistle.

The marmot is a valuable game animal; it is hunted for its meat, fat, and skin. The species is listed in the region's Red Book; hunting for it is prohibited.

In the night steppe you can find a jerboa with an unusual body structure (slide 12). The jerboa, which is nicknamed the earth hare for its agility, is capable of reaching a speed of 40-50 kilometers per hour, making almost three-meter jumps. The animal does not run in a straight line, but in zigzags, while long tail with a white tip (“banner”) at the end serves not only as a balancer, but partly also as a means of “misinformation” for the pursuing predator.

When the jerboa abruptly changes the direction of its run, the tail “banner” flies off in the other direction on the go-ahead, the pursuer rushes after a white dot looming in the dark... - and the runner gets an additional chance to hide.

Another interesting representative night steppe - eared hedgehog (slide 13). Weight up to 500 g (smaller in size than the European hedgehog), the ears are larger, up to 5 cm. The needles are short - no longer than 3 cm. The lower parts of the sides are covered with soft, usually light-colored fur (pure white in desert forms). Active at night and at dusk. .

Very mobile, runs faster than a European hedgehog. Reluctantly curls up into a ball. It feeds on insects and small invertebrates, including lizards and mouse-like rodents. In hot weather it hides in burrows, and in winter it hibernates. Once a year, the litter ranges from 2 to 8 cubs. The weight of a newborn is 5-11 g. The animal often becomes prey for foxes and large birds of prey.

Many of you have seen piles of dug up earth and thought it was a mole. But this is not so: in the steppe underground there live other animals that belong to rodents - mole rat and mole vole (slide 14).

They feed on underground parts of plants, make reserves, and are active in winter. Can cause significant damage to cultivated plants.

And the mole feeds mainly on worms and lives in places with moister forest soil.

Rodents not only partially destroy crops, but also contribute to their spread. In addition, rodents are carriers infectious diseases and hosts of ticks and fleas.

—Have you ever met a lizard or a snake? What structural features did you notice?

Indeed, the body of these animals seems to be adjacent to the ground and that is why they were called reptiles (slide 15). Write down in your notebook the reference diagram No. 2 “Reptiles” from the slide.

Quite numerous in the steppe: quick lizard, steppe viper, patterned snake.

The snapping lizard (slide 16) has one way to deceive the enemy - autotomy.

In response to painful stimulation, the animal itself breaks off the tail grabbed by the enemy, and thereby distracts the predator’s attention from the body, since the left piece of the tail wriggles for a long time. Often after this the lizard manages to escape safely. Many lizards in nature have a regrown tail, and the number of such individuals can serve as indirect evidence of the presence of predators. Lizards also use their teeth for defense, and the rarest method of defense for this species is intimidation.

The sand lizard feeds mainly on insects, actively searching for or stalking its prey. Having noticed it, the lizard becomes alert, monitors its movement, and then quickly takes off and grabs the prey in an accurate throw.

The steppe viper (slide 17) is poisonous, but little dangerous to humans; cases with fatal unknown. The poison is widely used to prepare medicines.

The steppe viper gives birth to live young; in one litter there can be noticeably more of them than in an ordinary litter, up to 28.

Another interesting representative of reptiles is the yellow-bellied snake (slide 18). The yellow-bellied snake is the only representative of a large genus of slender snakes that lives in the Saratov region. The most aggressive snake of our fauna. The bite of an adult snake is painful but not dangerous for humans. The yellow-bellied snake is the most large snake in Europe: reaches a size of two meters, and record specimens exceed two and a half meters.

If a person threatens him, the snake often rushes to attack himself - with a loud hiss that frightens the enemy and with his mouth wide open. At the same time, he can “jump” towards the enemy at a distance of up to one meter, trying to grab onto the very vulnerable spot. It happened that he struck strong bites. The aggressive behavior of the yellow-bellied snake can put even such a large animal as a horse to flight.

Not only adults and strong individuals of this species display an evil disposition, but also juveniles.

The next stage is getting to know the birds of the steppe (slide 19). Write the diagram down in your notebook.

The steppe is a haven for daytime birds of prey. They soar high in the sky, looking for prey from a great height.

Name the diurnal birds of prey. What kind of steppe animals do you think they can eat?

These include the common kestrel, falcon and steppe eagle

(slide 20).

Of the birds, the larks (steppe, field larks), gray partridge, quail and others have best adapted to life in open spaces (slide 21).

The largest flying bird in the world is the bustard (slide 22).

The species is included in the Red Book of the RSFSR. The nest is a hole in the ground, sometimes with sparse lining. There are known cases of wintering in the region. Mass departure - in the second half of October. Issues of conservation of bustards have been developed since the early 1980s. The main direction of the strategy is the legislative protection of these birds, their habitats, management of the behavior of bustards, and explanatory work. In the Saratov region there are 4 reserves with a total area of 100 thousand.

ha. Here bustards were kept, experimented with incubating eggs collected from nature, and chicks were raised. The breeding population of the bustard in the Saratov region is the second largest in Europe.

— Tell me, what insects did you most often encounter when you found yourself in the steppe or field?

Indeed, the most numerous representatives of the steppe expanses are grasshoppers (slide 23).

Write down the “Insects” diagram in your notebook.

- Do you know by what signs you can distinguish a grasshopper from a locust?

Grasshoppers differ from locusts by having long antennae and among them there are also herbivores and predators (slide 24). The fewer butterflies in the steppe are white butterflies, cabbage grasses, and lemongrass (slide 25). The chirping of cicadas can be heard throughout the steppe (slide 26). Dragonflies and mosquitoes are found near bodies of water (slide 26).

Thus, the steppe has no less diverse fauna than the forest.

Questions for consolidation:

How do living conditions in the steppe differ from those in the forest?
2. Name the largest rodent of the steppe and why do people hunt it?
3.What animals of the steppe are listed in the Red Book?

4.What can you say about the bustard?
5. How to distinguish a grasshopper from a locust?

— Having studied new material, let's start working independently, with tasks in the workbooks for the textbook. Based on the text of the paragraph, complete tasks No. 71-73.

7. Frontal survey on assignments from the workbooks for the textbook. Evaluation of work results.

8. Definition and explanation of homework.

workbook assignment No. 74.
messages “Dybka”, “Bustard”.

Animals living in the steppe

The air temperature in the steppe in summer reaches +40°. Burning rays pour down to the ground from a cloudless sky midday sun, and walking gets tiring quickly. You can only breathe freely when a gust of wind blows. Here he comes down the hill, bending the grass and flowers, and you hear his rustling hasty steps closer and closer.

A stream of coolness washes over your face for a moment, and you immediately feel lighter. But now the gust of wind has passed, the agitated green sea calms down, and again everything is quiet around, only the noise in the ears from the heat.

In winter, severe frosts and strong winds are common in the steppes, with temperatures dropping to -40°.

The earth is tightly frozen. Under the blow of a shovel it rings like iron. Snowstorms are especially scary in the steppe, when you can get lost just a few steps from your home.

The most best time in the steppe - spring. The abundance of moisture in the soil causes rapid development of vegetation. The steppe turns into a luxurious colorful flower garden. But it doesn't bloom for long. Around the middle of summer, a drought begins, less and less rain falls, the dried soil becomes hard as stone, the grass burns out, temporary reservoirs - small rivers and lakes - dry up.

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The already dry soil is severely dried out by hot dry winds - hot winds.

But despite these unfavorable conditions, the steppes are home to many different animals, we have already written about animals of the steppe, now we will consider this topic in more detail. Even if we take only vertebrates, over 50 species of mammals and about 250 species of birds live here.

There are few animals characteristic only of the steppes: among mammals in these places you can find three species of ground squirrels (speckled, reddish and red-cheeked), marmot, steppe mouse, mole rat, steppe pika, corsac fox and saiga antelope; of birds - the steppe eagle, harrier, buzzard, little bustard, bustard, demoiselle crane, several species of larks, red duck and shelduck; among reptiles - two species of snakes: yellow-bellied and four-striped, steppe viper and eastern sand lizard; among insects - the thistle butterfly and locusts, known as grasshoppers, - the praying mantis and the wingless saga; from arachnids - scorpion, phalanx and tarantula.

In addition to these species, the steppe is inhabited a large number animals penetrating here from adjacent zones - desert and forest. For example, frogs living in the steppes - spadefoot, lake and sharp-faced frogs, as well as the green toad are found in deciduous forests.

The inhabitants of the steppes mostly feed on plant foods and are therefore called phytophages (from the Greek phyton - plant and phagos - eater). For many of them, plants provide not only food, but also moisture. Because of this, in dry years the number of animals decreases, and in favorable, wet years it increases.

The owners of the steppes have always been ungulates.

Fast running helps steppe animals escape from enemies. Ungulates run very fast. Of these in the steppes Central Asia and Kazakhstan, only the saiga antelope has survived.

The steppe hares, the brown hare and the tolai, also run fast. Their hind legs are longer than those of the forest hare. Jerboas also have very long hind legs. These animals escape from enemies with extraordinary speed, making huge jumps. Of the birds, the bustard runs beautifully.

Some species (buffalo, European wild horse tarpan, aurochs) were practically exterminated by humans, while the number of others has greatly decreased, such as the previously numerous saigas. Herds of these graceful animals move with amazing speed across the flat expanses of the steppes. Saiga antelopes have yellowish-gray fur, a large head, and curled horns (in males). Saigas weigh about 45 kg, they are light-footed and agile. Now hunting these ungulates is prohibited.

Once upon a time, numerous herds of bison roamed the prairies, providing food and everything necessary for life to the North American Indians. Bison were their food, gave them milk, leather for clothing and shelters, and their bones were used to make knives, arrowheads and other weapons. As a result of the colonization of North America by Europeans and the advent of firearms, bison were exterminated. This large and strong animal (its height reached 2 m, and its weight reached 10 centners), which previously lived everywhere in the vast prairies of North America, today has survived only in special reservations, where it is taken under protection.

Coyote, or coyote, is a canine-like predator of the prairies. This is a small dog, its body length does not exceed 90 cm. Coyotes are scavengers, in this way they are similar to jackals in the savannas. Most often, coyotes hunt in packs. Horses used to be found everywhere in the steppes. Now wild horses have been replaced by herds of domestic ones that graze on the steppe pastures. One of the endangered species of wild horse, the kulan is found in the steppes of Mongolia and Western Asia.

Outwardly, it looks like a donkey, but much larger. Another almost extinct species is the Przewalski's horse. The first description of this wild animal was given by the Russian traveler N. M. Przhevalsky during his expedition to Dzungaria in 1879. Unfortunately, now it can be seen mainly in zoos. This is a short (up to 140 cm at the withers) horse with long shaggy hair, red-brown in summer and grayish in winter.

Rodents, including gophers, jerboas, marmots, and hamsters, are the most numerous inhabitants of the steppes.

Many of them are not found anywhere else (these animals are called endemics). In the North American prairies, the marmot is called a prairie dog, he earned this name with his shrill and barking voice. The groundhog digs deep branched holes in the ground to store supplies and hibernate during the cold season. Storerooms and marmot passages literally permeate all the underground spaces of the steppes.

In moments of danger, multi-chamber passages help marmots instantly hide from the predator and reappear on the surface already a few tens or hundreds of meters from the pursuer. Unfortunately, the plowing of the steppes has led to a significant reduction in the number of these animals.

When a groundhog digs its holes, it throws soil to the surface. The resulting mounds - marmots - sometimes occur so often that they even create a kind of microrelief.

The steppes and prairies are home to many birds of prey: kestrel, little bustard, steppe eagle, and vulture.

The largest of them is the vulture. Among the vultures, the largest is the South American condor. The wingspan of this predator is about 3 meters. From a great height, it looks out for prey, most often it is a dying animal or carrion. The beak of the vulture is massive and heavy, curved at the end, allowing the bird to tear the flesh of the victim. The head of the vulture is most often devoid of feathers, but there is a wide “collar” around it. American vultures nest in the rocks of the foothills of the Cordillera. The kestrel is one of the most common birds of the steppes and forest-steppes of Eurasia.

It nests in trees and often takes over the nests of other birds. Unlike vultures, the kestrel hunts living inhabitants of the steppes, as a rule, rodents. Noticing prey from the height of its flight, the kestrel falls like a stone and captures the animal with its tenacious and strong claws. If there is a lack of rodents, the kestrel can feed on lizards and insects.

Most wall animals live in burrows.

They hide there from enemies, escape from the heat and frost. With the exception of hares, all steppe rodents, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs and even some birds (hoopoes, shore swallows and wheatears) dig burrows. But most birds - quails, gray partridges, steppe harriers, nightingales, little bustards, great bustards - nest directly on the ground.

Some inhabitants of the steppe inhabit other people's burrows. Wolves, for example, take over the homes of badgers and foxes.

The burrows of large rodents are inhabited by small four-legged predators - stoats, weasels and ferrets, and among birds - shelducks and red ducks.

In the burrows of smaller rodents live stonechat - wheatears and dancers - toads, lizards, snakes, vipers.

Life in burrows left its mark on the body structure.

Animals that constantly live underground - the zokor, the mole and the mole rat - have a ridged body with velvety fur, they have short legs, underdeveloped eyes and short tails. Many small predators - the polecat, the ferret, the ermine, the weasel - have a thin and highly elongated body. This allows them to catch rodents in the burrows where they live.

Animals hide in burrows both during hot daytime hours and in cold, damp weather.

In summer they come to the surface only in the morning, evening and night hours. Among birds, the greatest activity reigns in the morning, before the onset of heat. Amphibians are almost invisible in the steppe during the day. The green toad, for example, leads a crepuscular and even nocturnal lifestyle. Reptiles tolerate heat easily, but they are sensitive to cold. The yellow-bellied snake, for example, appears on the surface when the ground has already warmed up. However, some reptiles do not like extreme heat: the steppe viper crawls out to hunt only at night or in the evening.

With the onset of cold weather, steppe reptiles, insects, ground squirrels, marmots, jerboas, hedgehogs, bats and badgers fall into hibernation.

Some animals (speckled and small gophers, steppe tortoise) fall asleep for a long time even in the summer. In dry years, when the vegetation in the steppe burns out very early, they fall asleep in mid-summer.

However, not all inhabitants of the steppes go into hibernation. Many of them feed on summer supplies in winter, others move to warmer places.

Most of the birds of the northern steppe fly to the southern regions, and herds of saiga and other antelopes also move there. Amphibians hide in holes dug by rodents.

Voles, hamsters and mole rats store food reserves collected in the summer in burrows, and the barrow mouse - under earthen mounds.

Pikas store hay; they put it in stacks at the entrance to the burrow.

Exclusively steppe birds: steppe eagle, harrier, buzzard, little bustard, bustard, demoiselle crane, shelduck, red duck and several species of larks. Apart from the steppe, the eastern sand lizard, yellow-bellied snake, four-striped snake and steppe viper are not found anywhere.

Among the insects most characteristic of the steppes are the thistle butterfly and the locusts known as locusts - the wingless saga and the praying mantis.

Among the arachnids, the scorpion, phalanx and tarantula live in the steppes.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, the fauna of the steppes became greatly impoverished due to predatory extermination. The primitive bull, the aurochs, and the wild horse, the tarpan, have completely disappeared. The number of saiga, bobak, red duck, demoiselle crane, curlew and little bustard has decreased significantly. But at the same time, on the plowed virgin steppes, the number of rodents and insects increased.

They turned into real “freeloaders”, man’s worst enemies. Of the rodents, gophers, voles, and mice are especially harmful; of insects - the Kuzka bread beetle, the bread mosquito, or Hessian fly, the pest bug, the beet weevil, the Asian and Italian locusts.

Predatory mammals (ferret, fox, ermine) are of great importance for the national economy and as fur-bearing animals.

The quality of their fur is significantly inferior to the inhabitants of the north, but a lot of fur is mined in the steppe zone.

State reserves have been created to protect valuable animals and plants in the steppes. One of the most interesting Askania-Nova in Ukraine. This steppe reserve occupies a huge area of 38,500 hectares. Herds of bison, zebras, fallow deer, gazelles, saigas and other antelopes, deer (deer and spotted deer), and mouflon graze freely here. Numerous ponds and oak forests contain a large number of birds: swans, pheasants, African ostriches, South American rheas and Australian emus.

The reserve pays a lot of attention to breeding new breeds of wild and domestic animals.

Animal climbers
Animals wet tropical forests, jungle
Animals capable of flight and gliding
Animals storing food

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Birds in the steppes

In Salt Lake City, Utah, there is a statue of a seagull erected in honor of the birds that saved the first Mormon settlers from an insect infestation. Then, as now, gulls nested on the islands of the Great Salt Lake. The lake's water is too salty for fish to live in, and the seagulls feed on grasshoppers and other insects in the nearby grasslands.

Although in the middle of a dry steppe an encounter with birds that we are accustomed to associate with water may cause surprise, in its more humid and not too hot areas, ducks and geese are not at all uncommon.

The fact is that prairies, steppes and pampas are far from waterless lands. Water is retained in depressions, natural or man-made.

What animals live in the steppe

Meltwater at the end of winter and rainfall during the rainy season soak the soil and form temporary streams and shallow ponds.

The steppes are home to hundreds of species of large and small birds that nest on the ground.

Eagles typically nest in trees, but in Siberia there is one species that builds nests on the ground, and the small cave owl lives in North America, sometimes digs holes. The largest birds in the world - African ostrich The ostrich-like South American rhea and the Australian emu are also inhabitants of the steppes.

All these birds are too heavy to fly.

Steppe mammals

The steppe, by definition, is open space. There are few places to hide and almost nothing to block the movement of the fleeing herd. Animals living in the steppes, especially ungulate mammals, are unusually cautious and run very quickly. To be on the safe side, many herbivores, e.g. Australian kangaroos, lead a herd lifestyle. Large predators such as lions and African wild dogs also live in groups, or prides.

Other common feature animals adapted to steppe conditions - digging holes.

Prairie dogs in North America and ground squirrels in Asia dig holes in the ground under the grass. By arranging their home and making passages, these rodents plow up large masses of soil, which helps to increase its fertility.

Insects in the steppes

Although mammals and birds catch our attention most of the time, it is the insects that are the most common.

The steppe is home to beetles, aphids, flies, bees, wasps, butterflies and, of course, crickets, grasshoppers and locusts. When steppes are used for agricultural purposes, some insects become very dangerous pests. However, in natural conditions They not only pollinate many plants, but also serve as food for birds, reptiles and small rodents. These, in turn, become prey for larger animals.

Typically, insectivorous animals help maintain the number of insects at a level that is optimal for a given environment, but in some years it reaches alarming proportions.

The most famous examples are probably the locust outbreaks in the Middle East and Africa.

Difference between prairie and pampa

Traditionally, the prairie is the steppe that occupies most of the territory in the western United States and Canada, and the pampas or pampas are the steppes of Argentina.

Prairie is an Old French word meaning "meadow"; pampa is a Spanish variant of a Native American word meaning "plain".

These are not the only local names for steppe territories. In the north South America The mighty Orinoco River flows through the endless steppes called llanos (lllano means “flat” in Spanish), South Africa the steppe is called the veld, which means “field” in Dutch.

The world's largest continuous steppe zone, referred to in all languages by the Russian word "steppe", stretches from Central Europe in the west to Siberia in the east.

The total area of all the steppes of the globe is about a quarter of the earth's landmass. Known under different names, they occupy vast areas on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica. For natural steppes the most characteristic are ungulates.

The steppe zone is a combination of amazing climatic conditions and landscape. The steppe captivates with its beauty and enchants with its vast expanses. If you peer into the distance for a long time, on the horizon you can see a strip of hills in a foggy, almost invisible oblivion.

Both the plants and animals of the steppe are unique; their types are diverse, but not only this is impressive, but also the ability of individuals to adapt to steppe life and its conditions.

Animals in a steppe climate

There are steppe zones in almost all parts of the world, including in the territory of post-Soviet countries; they stretch in a wide strip from west to east (from the Carpathians to Altai). For steppe climate characterized by dry, hot summers and cold winters; temperature in summer time rises to +40°, and in winter drops to -40°. Precipitation falls in small quantities, which is why the grass burns out in summer and many lakes and rivers dry up.

Shrubs and trees, which serve as shelter for animals from bad weather and enemies, are found only in valleys located near rivers. Also an important factor for steppe animals is soil temperature, because many of them live in burrows. And yet, despite the difficult climatic conditions, steppe animals adapted very well to them, and today in the steppe zone there are more than 50 species of mammals and approximately 250 species of birds.

What animals live in the steppe?

To animals that live in burrows, include all steppe rodents, badgers, foxes, hedgehogs and birds (hoopoes, wheatears and shore swallows). They dig holes on the banks of rivers and reservoirs, in vegetation zone, where they escape from frost, heat and enemies. And the birds of the feathered family: quail, steppe harrier, gray partridge, little bustard, nightingale and great bustard build their nests right on the ground.

Most of the inhabitants of the steppe settle in other people's burrows. For example, a wolf takes over the home of a fox and a badger, and small four-legged predators such as weasels, stoats and ferrets, as well as red ducks and shelduck ducks from birds, settle in the burrows of large rodents; The burrows of small rodents are taken over by stonechat - dancers and wheatears - lizards, toads, vipers, snakes.

The most common species found in the steppe are the green toad, the lake frog, the sharp-faced frog, and the spadefoot frog; most insects characteristic of the steppes you can call thistle butterfly; from the locust family - the praying mantis and the wingless saga; from the arachnid family - scorpion, phalanx and tarantula.

Animals that live only in the steppe and never found in other landscape zones, represent a small list of steppe inhabitants. These include:

three species of mammals (speckled, red-cheeked and reddish ground squirrel; bobak marmot; mole rat; steppe mouse mouse; pika; saiga antelope; corsac fox);
birds exclusively inhabiting the steppe zone (harrier, steppe eagle, buzzard, bustard, little bustard, demoiselle crane, shelduck and red-headed duck, and several species of larks);
steppe viper, eastern sand lizard, yellow-bellied snake and four-striped snake.

Animals of the Russian steppe

In pre-revolutionary times, in the steppes of Russia, the animal world became greatly impoverished due to the extermination of its inhabitants by predators. There are no primitive bulls left - aurochs and wild horses - tarpans. The number of bobak, saiga, red duck, curlew, demoiselle crane and little bustard has greatly decreased.

And at the same time on plowed lands steppe zone the presence of insects and rodents has increased. They became real “freeloaders” and worst enemies person.

The worst pests include:

rodents (gophers, mice and voles);
insects (Hessian fly or grain mosquito, bread bug, pest bug, Italian and Asian locust and beet weevil).

In Russia, thanks to the high level of agriculture and the use of chemical methods that help exterminate harmful rodents and insects, pests do not pose a particular danger, including in agriculture, in contrast to the time it happened before the October Revolution.

In the fight against harmful insects and rodents, such friends and helpers as buzzards, steppe eagles, harriers and the following four-legged predators participate: bandages, ferrets, foxes, weasels, stoats; as well as reptiles and amphibians. Amphibians are most useful because they destroy insects, and snakes - vipers and snakes - are considered assistants in exterminating steppe rodents.

Carnivorous mammals (fox, ferret and ermine) are also very important for the national economy, including as fur-bearing animals. They are significantly inferior to other animals in terms of fur quality, but in the steppe they are considered valuable due to the small amount of fur.

State reserves have been created to protect steppe plants and valuable animals in this zone. One of the most interesting reserves is. It covers an area of up to 38,500 hectares.

Zebras, herds of bison, gazelles, fallow deer, saigas and other antelopes, mouflons and deer (spotted and deer) graze in the reserve. Many oak forests and ponds are home to a large number of birds: pheasants, swans, African ostriches, Australian emus and South American rheas; Much attention is paid to breeding new breeds of domestic and wild animals.