1. Study sites

The observational and manipulative experiments were conducted in the six CASCADE study sites, which are all located in southern Europe. Two are stressed by fire: Várzea in North-Central Portugal and Ayora in Eastern Spain, and four by grazing: Albatera-Santomera in Eastern Spain, Castelsaraceno in Southern Italy, Messara in Southern Crete and Randi in Southern Cyprus.

For general descriptions of the study sites including information on geography, soils, climate, land use, degradation drivers, socioeconomic status and evolution of vegetation see

»Várzea Portugal: Description of site and main causes of degradation
»Albatera, Spain: Description of site and main causes of degradation
»Ayora, Spain: Description of site and main causes of degradation
»Castelsaraceno, Italy: Description of site and main causes of degradation
»Messara, Greece: Description of site and main causes of degradation
»Randi Forest, Cyprus: Description of site and main causes of degradation

A brief summary of the study site characteristics is provided in Table 1.

Table 1. Summarized description of the study sites

2. Target species

For all six CASCADE sites, we identified the most relevant plant species to be considered as target species. The species selected were either shrubs or perennial grasses (Table 2). The selection was based on the importance of their role (abundance; functional role) in the ecosystems of study. The target species in Várzea, Pterospartum tridentatum, is a dominant shrub species in the study site, which quickly resprouts after fire and plays a critical role in the post-fire recovery of the vegetation. Rosmarinus officinalis, the target species in Ayora, represents a different post-fire regeneration strategy, a post-fire seeding shrub, which is very common in fire-prone shrublands developed in old agricultural fields in the Mediterranean. Anthyllis cytisoides and Calicotome villosa, the target species in Albatera and Randi, respectively, represent abundant palatable shrubs and therefore represent the species that are the most likely to be affected by grazing intensity. Similarly, Brachypodium rupestre and Stipa austroitalica in Castelsaraceno and in Hyparrhenia hirta Messara represent the common palatable grasses in these grazed areas.

Table 2. Selected target species

Species	Species description
	Name: Pterospartum tridentatum (L.) Family: Fabaceae Functional group: Shrub Functional strategy: Resprouter species Site: Várzea (Portugal)
	Name: Anthyllis cytisoides (L.) Family: Fabaceae Functional group: Subshrub Functional strategy: Drought deciduous species Site: Albatera-Santomera (Spain)
	Name: Rosmarinus officinialis (L.) Family: Lamiaceae Functional group: Shrub Functional strategy: Seeder species Site: Ayora-Mariola (Spain)
	Name: Brachypodium rupestre (Host) Roem. & Schult. Family: Poaceae Functional group: Herb Functional strategy: Perennial grass Site: Castelsaraceno (Italy)
	Name: Stipa austroitalica (Martinovský) Family: Poaceae Functional group: Tussock grass Functional strategy: Perennial grass Site: Castelsaraceno (Italy)
	Name: Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Family: Poaceae Functional group: Subshrub Functional strategy: Perennial grass Site: Messara (Crete)
	Name: Calicotome villosa (Poir.) Link Family: Fabaceae Functional group: Shrub Functional strategy : Drought deciduous species Site: Randi (Cyprus)

 Note: For full references to papers quoted in this article see

» References