Christina Skarpe

A system of easily defined plant functional types for a dry savanna is presented and related to climate data. To predict possible changes of vegetation in response to climate change, a system of functional attributes is developed. The attributes are based on both structural and functional characteristics and are chosen to be related to climatic conditions. plant functional types are defined as assemblages of plant species having similar combinations of plant functional attributes. Direct and indirect gradient analyses of a test data set show that the plant functional types as well as the vegetation described from them are strongly associated with total annual precipitation, precipitation of the wettest month and a moisture index (all related to soil moisture) and with temperature of the coldest month.

Small‐scale species dynamics in semi‐arid steppe vegetation under grazing and recovering from long‐term grazing were followed during five years. Most species successively increased their frequency during the study period, whereas some early successional species decreased in frequency. Perennial Artemisia spp. dominated the vegetation and showed low mobility, whereas small annual or short‐lived perennial species had a lower frequency and higher mobility. Significant associations between species were few.