Plant forms in three vegetation types with heavy grazing pressure in eastern Crete

Grazing affects significantly the appearance and the dominance of plant species with specific life and growth form. In areas that are heavily grazed, thorny, hairy and/or oily plant species are usually present. The objective of this study was to investigate the life and the growth forms as well as other functional traits in three different vegetation types (kermes oak forest with dense canopy, kermes oak forest with moderate canopy and phrygana vegetation) in the area of Katharo plateau (Lasithi prefecture, Crete) where heavy grazing occurs. The research was conducted in May 2007 with relevés according to the Braun-Blanquet method in every vegetation type. In all the vegetation types therophytes were dominant compared to the hemicryptophytes. This is probably due to the heavy grazing, which occurs even in the understorey of the close canopy forests and is responsible for the limited appearance of hemicryptophytes and phanerophytes.