Horses began to feature prominently in funerary contexts in southern Siberia in the mid-second millennium BC, yet little is known about the use of these animals prior to the emergence of vibrant horse-riding groups in the first millennium BC. Here, the authors present the results of excavations at the late-ninth-century BC tomb of Tunnug 1 in Tuva, where the deposition of the remains of at least 18 horses and one human is reminiscent of sacrificial spectral riders described in fifth-century Scythian funerary rituals by Herodotus. The discovery of items of tack further reveals connections to the earliest horse cultures of Mongolia.

Perennially frozen loess deposits in the Klondike goldfields include paleosols formed in full-glacial environments, correlated by Alaskan distal tephra with Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 2 and 4. Patterns of organic and inorganic carbon and clay distribution, microstructures, and profile morphologies indicate that soil formation occurred in a base-rich environment in which organic matter accreted predominantly as root detritus. At sites approximately 20 km apart, the expression of cryoturbation and ice wedge development decreases in strength upward in loess–paleosol sequences correlated with MIS 4, suggesting increasing aridity. Configurations of cryoturbation features and ice-wedge thaw unconformities, the presence of numerous ground squirrel burrows, and an absence of peat accumulation suggest that these substrates were predominantly well-drained, with active layers of equal or greater thickness than in modern soils on similar sites in the west-central Yukon. Some characteristics of these paleosols are similar to those of modern steppe and tundra soils, consistent with plant macrofossil evidence for local ecological diversity during full-glacial conditions in eastern Beringia.

Palynological and sedimentological data from Lake Telmen, in north-central Mongolia, permit qualitative reconstruction of relative changes in moisture balance throughout the mid to late Holocene. The climate of the Atlantic period (7500–4500 yr ago) was relatively arid, indicating that Lake Telmen lay beyond the region of enhanced precipitation delivered by the expanded Asian monsoon. Maximum humidity is recorded between ∼4500 and 1600 cal yr B.P., during the Subboreal (4500–2500 yr ago) and early Subatlantic (2500 yr–present) periods. Additional humid intervals during the Medieval Warm Epoch (∼1000–1300 A.D. or 950–650 ago) and the Little Ice Age (1500– 1900 A.D. or 450–50 yr B.P.) demonstrate the lack of long-term correlation between temperature and moisture availability in this region. A brief aridification centered around 1410 cal yr B.P. encompasses a decade of cold temperatures and summer frost between A.D. 536 and 545 (1414–1405 yr B.P.) inferred from records of Mongolian tree-ring widths. These data suggest that steppe vegetation of the Lake Telmen region is sensitive to centennial- and decadal-scale climatic perturbations.

Arid and Alpine ecosystems are known for extreme environmental changes during the Late Quaternary. We hypothesize that the world's largest Alpine arid ecosystem however, the Alpine Steppes of the Tibetan highlands, remained ecologically stable during the LGM and the mid-Holocene. This hypothesis is tested by distributional range of plant species, plant life forms and rate of endemism. The set of character species has a precipitation gradient between 50 and 350 mm/a, testifying for resilience to precipitation changes. 83% of the species have a wider vertical range than 1000 m used as a proxy for resilience to temperature changes. 30% of the species are endemic with 10 endemic genera, including plate-shaped cushions as a unique plant life form. These findings are in line with palaeo-ecological proxies (δ18O, pollen) allowing the assumption that Alpine Steppes persisted during the LGM with 3 to 4 K lower summer temperatures.

During the mid-Holocene, forests could have replaced Alpine Steppes in the upper catchments of the Huang He, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween and Yarlung Zhangbo, but not in the interior basins of the north-western highlands, because the basins were then flooded, suppressing forests and supporting the environmental stability of this arid Alpine grassland biome.

Textiles are powerful indicators of technology and contact, as the authors show for the peoples of the Bronze Age central Asian steppes. In this case the textiles are mainly missing, but have left their imprints on the surface of the inside of pots, captured when otherwise redundant cloths were used to paddle or jacket the clay before hardening and firing. A good supply of old cloths seems to have been part of a potters' equipment and some were used several times. The authors analyse and date the fibres and weaves to give an indication of changing cultural context through the Bronze Age.

We studied a breeding population of pallid harrier Circus macrourus in 2000 and 2006 in north-central Kazakhstan to evaluate the relationships between breeding parameters and breeding habitat in the species’ core breeding range. Pallid harrier nests were found in a wide variety of vegetation types and heights belonging to three main types: steppe, riverine and agricultural. The proportion of nests found in each habitat type (corrected for search effort) differed between 2000 and 2006, with agricultural habitats being more used in 2000, when fallow land was abundant, than in 2006. Highest densities were observed in riverine habitats but hatching success seemed to be lower there because of greater predation. There was apparently lower productivity (smaller broods) in agricultural than in other areas. Laying was spread over 2 months, with a bimodal pattern of laying dates. Birds laid earlier in agricultural and steppe habitats and later in riverine habitats. These differences may be linked to spatio-temporal habitat heterogeneity, and possibly to intra-population heterogeneity in wintering areas implying different arrival dates on the breeding grounds. We discuss the implications of the findings for the conservation of this Near Threatened species.

Dupont's lark Chersophilus duponti was categorized globally as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2005, largely because of reported declines in Spain and an estimated population of 2,000–3,000 breeding pairs in Morocco. However, the range and size of the species' North African populations were still unknown, despite being critical for assessment of the species' global conservation status. Here we report on the breeding distribution of Dupont's lark in Morocco, probably the largest population in its North African range, as well as on its preferred habitat, population density and size. Fieldwork and analysis of satellite images were combined to locate suitable habitat for the species, assess its presence (eliciting territorial calls by broadcasting the males’ songs and calls), and estimate densities using 83 km of linear censuses. Total number of birds located was 461 (305 from song playback and 156 from transects) across an extent of occurrence of c. 11,000 km2, comprising 2,067 km2 of suitable habitat and an effective area of occupancy of 1,645 km2. Mean density was 0.60 ± SD 0.52 birds per 10 ha and was highest in dense stands of Stipa tennacissima. Our estimate of Dupont's lark breeding population in Morocco is c. 15,400 singing males (lower and upper limits 11,220–20,167, respectively). Evidence of habitat loss and degradation was found in one of the main areas of the species' distribution in Morocco, although this does not seem to be a general pattern in the lark's Moroccan range. Further studies are required of the dynamics of suitable habitat for the species to prevent long-term consequences for the conservation of Dupont's lark and other bird species of the steppe.

We tested the germination of fresh and frost-treated seeds of 26 species of southern Mongolian mountain and desert steppes, covering the major growth forms of woody and herbaceous perennials and short-lived species in the region. In the field, germination depends on rains that are largely restricted to the summer months between June and August. Thus, germination tests were performed at alternating conditions of 10°C in darkness and 20°C in light (12 h/12 h), which correspond to temperatures at the study site in early and late summer. Seeds of both woody and herbaceous perennials germinated well under the chosen conditions and apparently did not require stratification or scarification. In contrast, germination of annual species was mostly below 30%, while seed viability was equally high in all three growth forms. Winter conditions, simulated by freezing dried seeds at −18°C, hardly changed seed germination in the perennial species, but several short-lived species responded with increased germination. Short-lived species are not abundant in the real vegetation, which is governed by perennials. Thus, we conclude that the important species in Mongolian mountain steppes germinate readily without a dormancy-breaking treatment. A review of the available literature revealed that a complete lack of dormancy, or presence of only conditional dormancy, is also widely described for other species of Central Asian deserts and steppes, which is in contrast to data from North American prairies.

Steppe ecosystems worldwide are affected by agricultural development and generally unprotected. Spanish shrub-steppes contain endangered avifauna, and this paper analyses their state of habitat conservation, the changes that have occurred in the last decade, primary productivity and its relationship with land exploitation and the richness of threatened birds, and avifauna responses to habitat loss. Fifty steppe remnants distributed throughout Spain and inhabited by Dupont's lark Chersophilus duponti, an endangered passerine representative of shrub steppe-like habitat, were studied. The study fragments were generally affected by agriculture exploitation, and steppe cover had significantly decreased in several isolated patches during the period 1991–1999. Steppe habitat recovered slightly in areas with low plant productivity indices, and decreased in extent in the most productive areas, in line with EU (European Union) agricultural policy recommendations to abandon marginal land of low productivity. The low overall primary productivity of Iberian steppes opened the way to industrial activities (mining, waste collection and wind-farming), which in the study areas occurred more frequently in steppe than in other habitat types that are more attractive to the public (woodland) or more productive (farmland). The emerging wind industry little affected the study plots, but the presence of anemometers suggests that the impact is likely to increase in the near future, especially in the largest steppelands. Dupont's lark was sensitive to the fragmentation of its habitat; crowding occurred in isolated and small fragments, possibly as a consequence of habitat constraints and species dispersal dynamics. Fragments inhabited by Dupont's lark also hosted other steppe birds with a high conservation value; the community of endangered birds, mostly adapted to arid conditions, was richest in the less productive sites. Only four shrub-steppe fragments are given some kind of protection throughout Spain, testifying to the limited public awareness about the value of this habitat. Urgent action is required to restore this habitat through abandonment of less productive farmland, and to create a network of protected and connected steppelands, in order to assure the long-term viability of steppe specialists and the preservation of a habitat that is unique in Western Europe. This should be coupled to an effort to increase social consciousness of the ecological value of steppes and arid landscapes in general.

Increasing human pressure has presumably led to a decrease in the cover and herbage yield of Kuwaiti desert vegetation, but, to date, there has been little detailed study on such human impacts. A study of Rhanterium epapposum (local name arfaj) and Haloxylon salicornicum (local name remeth) steppe was therefore effected to determine the seasonal variation in above-ground phytomass and percentage cover, and to investigate differences between protected and adjacent grazed areas.

An average seasonal precipitation of 90 mm supported a mean of 223 kg ha-1 in arfaj steppe in 1979–1989, whereas an average mean seasonal precipitation of 73 mm during 1983–1989 maintained a mean phytomass of 102 kg ha-1 in the remeth steppe. Annual forbs and perennial shrubs were the greatest producers of dry matter per kg of phytomass in the arfaj and remeth steppes, respectively. The seasonal production of dry matter was related directly to the seasonal precipitation in the arfaj steppe, whereas the remeth steppe did not show an obvious relationship to the precipitation. The plant cover was 83% and 70% less, and herbage production was 76% and 91% less in grazed areas than in protected areas in the arfaj and remeth steppes, respectively.

The symbolism of the horse in Eneolithic society is explored in this paper. Recent excavations in the Eurasian steppes demonstrate the importance of horses before domestication and horse riding became common; showing they were eaten, exploited and revered.

Data are presented on the changes in distribution and abundance of the Mongolian saiga Saiga tatarica mongolica in the last few decades, based on an analysis of the literature and the authors' field observations. The subspecies has suffered a considerable decline in its range because of hunting and competition with domesticated stock. In 1997 a survey was made of almost all the known range, which consists of two disjunct areas and covers a total of 2200 sq km. A total of 609 animals was recorded and analysis of the census results suggests that c. 1300 saiga remain in total. The authors recommend strengthening the nature reserve established in 1993 in the Shargyn Gobi, and creating several sanctuaries outside this area, where Mongolian saiga from the main remaining population could be reintroduced. These measures would enhance prospects for the survival of this endemic subspecies of the semideserts of western Mongolia.