The fragile pseudo-steppes of Catalonia
The steppes, a biome still well represented in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, have completely disappeared in Western Europe, where the closest thing that resembles it, is a habitat modified for centuries, technically called "pseudo-steppe". This semi-natural landscape is made up of extensive rainfed crops, mostly cereals, where some plots are left unseeded for several seasons and reproduces, up to a certain extent, the conditions of wild grasslands. These plains hold one of the highest proportions of declining bird species in Europe, such as Little Bustard (Tetrax tetrax), Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus), European Roller (Coracias garrulus), Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra) and Iberian Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis).
