Semi desert vegetation of the Greater Caucasus foothills in Azerbaijan : effects of site conditions and livestock grazing Vegetation Beweidung Kaukasus Ökologie Aserbaidschan Pflanzen species turnover species richness rangelands This dissertation evaluates the effects of site conditions and livestock grazing on the vegetation of Azerbaijan&rsquo;s winter pastures. We improved methods to estimate grazing intensity in vast rangelands and enhanced an approach to detect discontinuities in vegetation changes along environmental gradients. All analyses use field data from the semi arid rangelands of Gobustan and Jeiranchel at the foothills of the Greater Caucasus mountains. The data set comprises 313 vegetation relevés each sized 100 mø based on a pre stratification using topographical parameters. Additionally we included data from farm transects and exclosure experiments. For each plot selected site and soil variables were determined. VEGETATION AND SITE CONDITIONS: By means of cluster analysis we derived 16 vegetation types with a total of 272 vascular plant species. Our vegetation classification which is closely linked to site conditions is an important groundwork for adapted rangeland management and monitoring. The study areas are dominated by semi deserts with a high coverage of dwarf shrubs and the mean number of vascular plant species was found to be about 28 per 100 mø. According to ordination analysis (NMDS) species composition changes primarily along the altitudinal gradient gradually proceeding from the Salsola nodulosa semi deserts of the lowest parts (below 300 m a.s.l.) to the Salsola ericoides and Artemisia lerchiana semi deserts of the upper regions (300650 m a.s.l.). Soil salinity and carbonate concentration decrease as altitude increases...