The land use structure in the steppe and forest-steppe developed over centuries and
agriculture has played the most important role. There are five major types of land use
(Milkov, 1973; Chibilyov, 1992). The first, characterized by the highest degree of
transformation, includes urban, industrial and agro-industrial areas, and transport
networks. Landscapes of this type account for 2-7 per cent of all the territory in the
steppe and forest-steppe. Because these zones accommodate large mining areas, about 200 km2
in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan have been mined (Mordkovich et. al., 1997). The second
category includes rural settlements and small agricultural plots of land such as private
gardens and allotments. The third and the largest group comprises arable land and
pastures. It occupies between 50 per cent and 85 per cent of the total area in European
Russia and the Ukraine, and between 30 per cent and 55 per cent in northern Kazakhstan.
Agriculture in the steppe zone often relies on irrigation and irrigated lands are among
the most strongly transformed landscapes of this group. The fourth category is represented
by natural grazing lands (transformed in various extents), hayflelds, and marginal lands,
such as ravines, small woodlands, and shrublands. Lands of this type often have a mosaic
distribution within the agricultural landscape and have a stabilizing effect on the
transformed and disturbed ecosystems. Their share increases eastwards from 5 per cent to
12 per cent in the Ukraine to 37 per cent in northern Kazakhstan. The fifth group
comprises riparian woodlands and meadows, vegetated wetlands, and large woodlands. The
stabilizing function of these landscapes is particularly important. Floodplains of the
large steppe rivers are important centres of biological diversity and are highly
productive. They also accommodate agriculturally valuable lands which are central to the
development of the region. Lands of this group usually occupy between 3 per cent and 4 per
cent of the total territory. Large areas of the steppe, where agricultural development has
never advanced, belong to the Russian Ministry of Defence. One such area, the Donguzskaya
Steppe, is located to the south of Orenburg and occupies 900 km2. It is the
largest fragment in Northern Eurasia of the Stipa-Festuca steppe on the southern
chernozems which has never been used for arable agriculture (Chibilyov, 1996; Levykin,
1997). Protected areas account for 0.3-0.8 per cent of the steppe and forest-steppe
biomes. The largest protected areas are the Askania Nova nature reserve (11054 ha) in the
southern Ukraine and the Orenburgsky (21700 ha) nature reserves in the Orenburg region.
