Few natural prairie regions remain because most have been turned into farms or grazing land. This is because they are flat, treeless, covered with grass, and have rich soil. Temperate grasslands can be further subdivided. Prairies are grasslands with tall grasses while steppes are grasslands with short grasses. Steppes are dry areas of grassland with hot summers and cold winters.
Steppes occur in the interiors of North America and Europe.
Plants growing in steppes are usually greater than 1 foot tall. They include blue grama and buffalo grass, cacti, sagebrush, speargrass, and small relatives of the sunflower. Steppe fauna includes badgers, hawks, owls, and snakes. Today, people use steppes to graze livestock and to grow wheat and other crops. Overgrazing, plowing, and excess salts left behind by irrigation waters have harmed some steppes.