Grass cover
We recorded 99 grass species that, on average, reached the total cover,
summed across all grass species in a plot, of 31.9%. There were
significant differences in grass cover among habitats and bedrock type
(Table 2). Grasses had a significantly higher cover at crests (p =
0.001, mean value of 41.5%) and at seasonal rivers (p = 0.001, 40.1%)
than at perennial rivers (14.1%; Fig. 4A), and on basalts (p = 0.039,
39.2%) than on granites (24.5%; Fig. 4B). The grass cover was
significantly negatively affected by herbivore abundance (Table 2),
decreasing with increasing grazing load (p = 0.019, Fig. 5), while its
interactions with habitat and bedrock were not significant. We found no
significant effect of herbivore species richness on grass cover, either
as a main effect or in interaction with bedrock or habitat (Table 2).