The Sayan Intermontane Steppe is a "steppe island" of grassland and shrubs encircled by mountain forests in the Central Tuva Depression of the Tyva Republic in south-central Siberia, Russia, reaching south across the Russia–Mongolia border; the Altai Mountains lie to its west, the Sayan Mountains to the north, and the Tannu-Ola Mountains to the south. It holds both "true" and "dry" steppe on chestnut and sandy soils, dominated by feather grass (Stipa krylovii), sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina), cinquefoil (Potentilla acaulis), and fringed sagebrush (Artemisia frigida), with sedges and brush in the driest spots. The climate is strongly continental and subarctic, with long, cold winters, short cool summers, and low annual precipitation. Though some areas fall within nature reserves and Important Bird Areas, protection remains limited, and overgrazing, haymaking, tourism, and pollution degrade the steppe; the pallid harrier is the ecoregion's flagship species, alongside the Mongolian marmot, Pallas's cat, and saker falcon. Gardeners may recognize hardy native genera such as Stipa and Artemisia, both grown ornamentally in cold, dry climates.

At a glance

About the temperate grasslands, savannas & shrublands biome

Temperate prairies, steppes, and pampas of grasses and forbs with few trees, under continental climates of hot summers and cold winters. Their deep, fertile soils have made them among the most extensively converted biomes for agriculture.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions