Draft:Ukrainian forest steppe

Ukrainian forest steppe (укр. лісосте́п) — a region in the European part of the terrestrial ecosystem forest steppe in the borders of Ukraine. The forest steppe zone extends from the southwest on the border with Moldova to the northeast on the border with Russia, covering about 33% of Ukraine's territory. The boundaries of this zone are not well-defined because steppe and forest areas frequently intersect. The Northern border of the forest steppe ties with the southern border of the mixed coniferous forest, while the Southern goes along the line Podilsk — Kropyvnytskyi — Kremenchuk — Krasnohrad — Vovchansk.

Relief
From west to east across Ukraine, the forest-steppe zone mostly occupies the upland areas of Roztocze, Podolian Upland, Volhynian Upland, Dnieper Upland and Central Russian Upland. Plateau surfaces alternate elevated areas, with the ridges covered in gullies and watercourses.The Dnieper Lowland takes only a small part of the left-bank of Ukraine.

The average height of the surfaces between 100 to 471 meters with Mount Kamula in Lviv Oblast being the highest point. The overall surface of forest steppe area is tilted towards the Dnipro River from west to east, with an average height ranging from 380 meters in the Podolian Upland to 230 meters in the Central Russian Upland, reaching a minimum height of 50 meters near the Dnipro's streambed.

The main feature of the forest steppe landscape is the highly-raised right sides of the banks split with ravines, contrasting with the low left banks with terraces. Floodplains and low terraces are frequently swamped, while higher terraces are covered in agricultural fields and settlements.

Geological deposits
The Ukrainian forest steppe contains deposits of lignite, petroleum, natural gas, gypsum, limestone, kaolinite, marl, and sand. Deposits of marble, labradorite, dolomite, graphite, oil shale can be found in the areas, where the rocks of the Ukrainian shield come up to the surface. In swamp areas — amber.

Climate
The climate in the zone of the Ukrainian forest steppe is temperate continental, with continentality gradually increasing eastward. It has warm summers and moderately cold winters. The average January temperature in the West is -4°C, and in the East it's -4°C. In July, the average temperatures are +16°C and +22°C in the West and East, respectively.

Rainfall is less than in the zone of mixed coniferous forests, but more than in steppes. Precipitation varies eastward from 600 to 500 mm, but nearly as much water evaporates; hydration is sufficient. Sometimes, there are droughts in the zone, especially in its southern part.

Hydrology
The Ukrainian forest steppe is an area with a dense network of rivers, including rivers Dnipro, Southern Bug, Dniester and their creeks. All the rivers have valleys with asymmetrical banks and slow currents. River rapids are formed where granite deposits intersect the riverbeds of Southers Bug and Hirskyi Tikych.

There are only a few lakes in the forest steppe. They are found on the left branches of the Dnipro River. Due to the contraction of the Kaniv and Kremenchuk reservoirs, a number of oxbow lakes were flooded. Ponds, created near settlements, compensate for the lack of natural waterbeds.