Along the borders of the large forest belts, the steppe is characterised by grassland and trees. The forest steppe forms the transition between forest and steppe in some regions in Europe and Asia. Forest steppe is a macro mosaic of clearly separated areas of forests and steppe. The steppe islands are overgrown with grasses and shrub.

The annual precipitation amounts vary in different regions between 300 and 600 mm. The borderlines between semi-humid and semi-arid area lie in this zone. The potential evaporation exceeds the yearly precipitation, causing droughts in late summer. Depending on the type of soil, the precipitation water penetrates up to two meters of the soil, below that the soil is dry.

Today, nearly all forest steppe has been converted into cultivated land.