Slavic Landscapes: The Steppes (9)

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In general, the Early Slavs (500-700 AD) of central and eastern Europe were active only on the margins of the extensive grasslands of the steppes,extending from Hungary to Mongolia. but they interacted with people more at home here like the Avars and Bulgars.

From: 'Archaeology of the Eurasian Steppes and Mongolia' (Annual Review of Anthropology vol. 39).
The precise margins of the steppes in the area of interest here are difficult to define, merging as they do with the forest steppe on the northwest. They also varied with climate change in the centuries under consideration. I wanted to find a map which shows the steppes as extending into the Carpathian Basin which is how Huns, Avars and bulgars moving west ended up in the latter area:

Parts of the Ukrainian steppe which are now returning to nature
(Mott MacDonald)

The dominant vegetation consists of temperate lowland: herb-rich grass steppes, herb-grass steppes, grass steppes, and desert steppes. Where fragments of pristine grassland survive, in Ukraine for example, 800 plant species have been counted. In the 1950s, the Soviet Union turned most of the area into arable farming land, and only a small proportion (3-5% ) of the steppe area remained in its natural condition. Overploughing and grazing have resulted in severe erosion and degradation of the land.