Historical and geographical aspects of coexistence between steppe and forest: major stages

The problem of interrelationship and interdependence between steppe and forest, in treeless zones particularly, has been in a sphere of especial scientific interest for over two hundred years. The article presents the general views of the leading scientists of XIX-XX centuries on this question. The period of the scientific research has been divided into 5 stages: the first stage (the second half of the XVIIIth century – the middle of the XIXth century); the second stage (the second half of the XIXth – the beginning of the ХХth century); the fundamental theoretical basis of the research (the 20-30th years of the XXth century); works on practical development of the steppe (the 40-80th years of the XXth century); modern state (90th years of the XXth century – the beginning of the XXIst century). Methods and principals developed by G. Denisik have been used to base the research on.